Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
Himachal Pradesh’s forest department informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that horse owners have agreed immediately to reduce the number of ponies from 1,029 to 700 in Shimla’s Kufri hill station, whose ecology is threatened by ponies and other tourism activities.
A report was filed on February 8, 2024 on behalf of Himachal Pradesh by the deputy conservator of forests, Shimla Forest Division. The department has formed and registered an eco-development committee (EDC), Kufri-Mahasu to oversee and regulate the issue.
The EDC will address issues such as collection of entry fee, proper cleanliness of the site, garbage disposal, fixation of routes and providing basic facilities to the visitors, the report said.
A meeting was held, February 2, 2024 under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary with the departments concerned regarding the regulation of horses in the Kufri-Mahasu area, NGT was told. Steps will be taken to reduce the number of horses, with a 10 per cent reduction in each subsequent year.
However, the horse owners initially were not agreeing to the suggestion and a law and order situation had arisen. Horse owners were facing not only livelihood issues but they were facing great difficulty in disposing of the extra horses.
“Reducing to 500 horses in a short span of time will lead to a situation of distress sale or horses being let off in forests, which will cause degradation of the forests in the vicinity,” the report said.
It was suggested that some horse owners who may become jobless could be compensated through livelihood initiatives led by the EDC. These initiatives aim to increase employment opportunities by promoting eco-friendly activities such as transitioning to electric vehicles and creating recreational parks, telescope points, photography points and installing public amenities like e-toilets operated by EDC members.
The applicant, Shailendra Kumar Yadav, had complained that continuous plying of horses was damaging the forest area in Kufri and no remedial action was being taken by the district administration.
NGT took a serious view of allegations of unauthorised and illegal construction of houses, shops and other commercial establishments in Noida and Greater Noida on April 2, 2024, and directed notices be issued to relevant authorities.
The respondents were told to file an “affidavit of service” at least one week before the next date of hearing, July 8, 2024.
The applicant filed a complaint alleging that unauthorised and illegal construction of houses, shops, and other commercial establishments on a large scale is underway in Greater Noida and Noida, in violation of environmental regulations.
Because many of these illegal constructions use top soil, the act was encouraging large-scale illegal mining of top soil in and around villages, resulting in deep, catastrophic pits and creating a vicious cycle, the application claimed.
The construction work was undertaken without obtaining mandatory Consent to Establish and Operate under Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), it further alleged.
It was also alleged that these illegal constructions/colonies do not have sewerage network; Consent to Establish and Operate under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and a no objection certificate to draw water from tubewells.
The applicant's counsel referred to UPPCB’s response, which stated that no information is available in the office record regarding these developers / developments.
The NGT on April 2, 2024 took suo motu cognisance of a media report about illegal soil mining in Katha village, Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh and directed the regional officer, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Lucknow to investigate the allegations in the article.
The concerned authority was asked to investigate whether illegal soil mining is taking place or has occurred in Katha and Mavikala villages and to submit a report to the Tribunal's registrar general within two months.
The newspaper Amar Ujala on February 15, 2024 reported on illegal soil mining in Katha village, Baghpat. According to the news, soil was being mined with heavy machinery in the villages, whose residents were protesting. In Badaut area, officers had conducted raids on receipt of information about illegal soil mining, it further alleged.
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