SC puts Centre, states on notice over floating logs

Taking note of videos of timber logs floating in floodwaters, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to the Centre, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand and others over “illegal felling of trees” in the Himalayan region.

“We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. From media reports, it has also been noticed that in the floods, a large number of wooden logs were flowing along. Prima facie, it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees, which has been going on…,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said.

“We have seen pictures of Punjab...entire fields and crops are inundated. Development has to be balanced with mitigating measures,” the CJI said, posting the matter for hearing after two weeks.

The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by environmentalist and Panchkula resident Anamika Rana highlighting environmental degradation in the Himalayan region.

Anamika sought a direction to the authorities to award compensation to farmers, agriculturalists, orchard owners, peasants, small landholders or any other person whose farmland, groves, orchards, houses or shops have been damaged in the floods.

She has also demanded rehabilitation, resettlement and award of compensation to those whose houses have developed cracks/fissures or whose land has subsided/submerged in the floods.

Terming it “a very serious matter”, the CJI requested Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to ask the Union Environment Secretary to talk to the chief secretaries of the states concerned to find out the truth.

Mehta assured the Bench that he would speak to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, today itself and ask him to get in touch with the chief secretaries of the states concerned.

“We have interfered with nature so much that nature is giving back now. I will speak to the Secretary of the Environment Ministry and he will speak to the chief secretaries. It cannot be permitted,” Mehta said.

The petitioner’s counsel, Akash Vashishtha, said there were 14 tunnels between Chandigarh and Manali, “which become near death traps during landslides caused by heavy rain”. Citing a media report, he said 300 people had got stranded in the tunnel.

Vashishtha alleged that roads were constructed in the Himalayan region in violation of the hill road manual of the Indian Road Congress.

Besides Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, the top court also issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, the National Disaster Management Authority and the National Highways Authority of India.

In recent weeks, several videos of a large number of wooden logs floating downstream in the Ravi have gone viral, raising concerns about organised illegal felling of trees.

Anamika has sought guidelines to prevent ecological disasters in the Himalayan region in view of recurring landslides, cloudbursts and flashfloods in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Punjab, which have caused loss of life and property. The PIL also sought formation of a special investigation team (SIT) of experts to find out the reasons for such disasters and to determine how to preserve the delicate ecology of the Himalayan states.