HC: File affidavit on steps taken for ecological balance in Lahaul-Spiti

The Himachal High Court has directed the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Lahaul and Spiti to file a meaningful response to the order passed on September 10, whereby he was directed to file a status report mentioning therein the steps being taken to maintain ecological balance in eco-sensitive areas of the district.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Satyen Vaidya directed the Deputy Commissioner of Lahaul and Spiti district that before filing the affidavit he should personally visit the places and satisfy himself about the ground reality.

The court stated in the order “merely to claim that toilets have been provided at Sirsu cannot be a solution, given the fact that the footfall of tourists visiting that place at any given time is more than 10,000 per day and so two toilets will definitely not be sufficient.”

The court directed the Deputy Commissioner to file the affidavit within two weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on December 17.

The court expressed displeasure over the affidavit filed by the Deputy Commissioner and observed that “though the Deputy Commissioner of Lahaul and Spiti has filed an affidavit in compliance with the court order passed on September 10, we find the same not to be of desired quality, as the officer appears to have taken no personal interest in ensuring that there is meaningful compliance with the order.”

The court observed that “in fact, the Deputy Commissioner has simply forwarded facts and figures without venturing to look into the matter personally. After all, what the Deputy Commissioner was required was only to have visited the north portal of the Atal Tunnel and thereafter other places of tourist interest like Koksar, Sirsu and Jaspa, which are on one road and then taken a detour to Udaipur. This entire exercise would have conveniently been completed within a couple of hours. After all, it is not too much to expect an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner posted in the eco-sensitive district of Lahaul and Spiti to be personally involved with issues so important as the one raised in this petition.”

The court passed the order on a news item published in The Tribune on July 3 under the headline, “Littering near Atal Tunnel threat to ecology”. It was reported in the news that littering by tourists near the Atal Tunnel has been going on unchecked as heaps of garbage can be seen on the roadside of the tunnel’s south portal near Manali. Besides being an eyesore, the waste is polluting the eco-fragile region and will become a health hazard, if this goes on unabated. Some panchayats in Lahaul have put up hoardings at several places to make tourists aware about keeping the area clean.