Down To Earth brings you the top environmental cases heard in the Supreme Court, the high courts and the National Green Tribunal
The High Court of Uttarakhand directed the state to formulate a tourism development plan and to seek approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) within four weeks. The state should also comply with all other obligations cast upon it in the Doon Valley Notification, as amended on January 6, 2020.
“Under the Doon Valley Notification, as amended, the approval of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is a must before starting any mining activity in the Doon Valley,” the order stated.
Uttarakhand was also asked to submit an affidavit on whether it has made a corresponding statutory rule in the state, which requires that any license, for carrying out any mining activity within the Doon Valley would be issued only after the approval of the MoEF&CC. The state should also prepare a plan for grazing and get the same approved from the MoEF&CC.
The High Court directed the Union of India to file an affidavit disclosing its position with regard to the implementation of the Doon Valley Notification as amended on January 6, 2020, and the “fate of the request made by the state government for repeal of the Doon Valley Notification” as amended in 2020.
The Centre was also directed to disclose the status with regard to consideration of the Integrated Master Plan submitted by the state on April 24, 2023. The High Court warned that in case the order passed is not complied with, the Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand will remain present before the court personally on the next date, October 10, 2023.
The policy of the state appears to be only to commercialise the hills and to generate more and more revenues by permitting commercial activities, the HC order read. There is very little emphasis on actual preservation and protection of the environment, it added.
“The State appears to be completely insensitised and blind to the enormous environmental degradation that the entire state — and not just the Doon Valley is suffering. No wonder, the State is urging the MoEF&CC to repeal the Doon Valley Notification in toto,” the bench comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal said.
The High Court of Uttarakhand directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct investigation into the matter of illegal constructions and tree felling in Corbett National Park.
The High Court order mentioned the Central Empowered Committee Report, 2023 filed by Satyaprakash Singh, deputy ecretary, forest epartment mentioned that the principal culprit in the illegal construction of roads and buildings infrastructure is the then district forest officer of Kalagarh with a dubious past of committing similar irregularities.
He was hand-picked by the then forest minister to be posted to Kalagarh Forest Division and that too without a recommendation from the principal chief conservator of forests and the civil services board. The report went on to say that massive legal and financial fraud has been committed within a short period of posting Kishan Chand to Kalagarh Forest Division.
Further, the report added that the then Forest Minister was instrumental in the planning and execution of illegal and unauthorised roads and buildings within the Corbett Tiger Reserve and in the Lansdowne Division.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed Udaipur Smart City Ltd to see to it that while carrying out the ‘Ayad River Smart Front Development and Beautification Project’, reinforcement cement concrete (RCC) should not be allowed “except vertical walls of channel / toe walls along the direction of flow”.
In some places where RCC construction is proposed (where the soil is loose and the bearing capacity is low) to support stone pitching, this again should be avoided and stabiliiation (increase of strength) has to be done by providing dry stone boulders or other techniques instead of providing RCC slabs, the NGT, Central Zonal Bench, Bhopal said.
The court noted that chlorination is used for the disinfection of treated wastewater of sewage treatment plant before discharging it to the river. The tribunal recommended changing the process of chlorination to ozonisation, which is a very effective process of disinfection and at the same time will increase dissolved oxygen in the treated wastewater. There should be provision for gates to be included in proposed anicuts and existing anicuts.
In addition, the court, on September 5, 2023, directed the following guidelines to be implemented by the authorities — plantation on both sides of river banks area; restriction of multistorey buildings adjacent to river banks; construction of a central channel in the whole city reach of the river and that the increase of depth near river banks is to be avoided, as it may lead to failure of the foundation of buildings situated on the river banks.
The submission of Jheel Sanrakhan Samiti, the applicant, was that the concretisation in the name of beautification or the demarcation of the floodplain and the construction undertaken by the respondents had directly encroached on the riverbelt and the floodplains of River Ayad.
It was further submitted that the concretisation of the riverbed and construction on the floodplain of Ayad has affected the natural flow of the river and such activity is in violation of the Water Act, 1974.
Ayad is a sub-tributary of the Berach river, which is a main tributary of river Banas, a tributary of the Chambal river.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court expressed its displeasure with the action taken by the Rupnagar police in handling illegal mining taking place in the area. The HC noted that only poor persons like the driver of the JCB and tipper get arrested and arrayed as accused.
“It is a sorry state of affairs that the police is trying its best to shield the real culprits, at whose instance the illegal mining operations were being carried out,” the HC said September 4, 2023.
The police were not able to ascertain as to whose instance the illegal mining operations were being carried out and directed the senior superintendent of police, Rupnagar, to file a detailed report, indicating the reasons why the persons, who were carrying out the illegal mining operations, have not been arrayed as accused.
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