Monsoon fury: Landslip scare, Supreme Court wants Himalayan region's carrying capacity assessed

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 21

As Shimla and Joshimath face landslides and subsidence, the Supreme Court on Monday hinted at setting up an expert panel to assess the carrying capacity and master plans of the Indian Himalayan region across 13 states and union territories.

The carrying capacity is the maximum population size that a region can sustain without degrading the ecosystem.

Expert Panel to study 13 states/UTs

• The carrying capacity is the maximum population size that a region can sustain without degrading the ecosystem
• The panel will assess the carrying capacity and master plans of the Himalayan region across 13 states and UTs

Terming the issue “important”, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud — which had issued a notice to the government on February 17 on a PIL filed by Ashok Kumar Raghav — said it intended to ask three expert institutions to nominate one expert each for the purpose.

As Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the Bench that the Centre had filed a comprehensive reply to the PIL, the Bench pointed out that it covered only Manali and McLeodganj. “Suppose we were to appoint expert institutions and ask them to carry out a complete exercise on the carrying capacity, can you give us a formulation for that? We will ask them (states/UTs) to respond to your template. We will constitute a committee for this. You can submit draft suggestions,” the Bench told Bhati and posted it for hearing on next Monday.

In its affidavit, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change submitted that land was a state subject as per the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. It said the “state is duty-bound to abide by the principle of sustainable development and as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution, sustainable development has to be the very basis for every developmental venture”.

Petitioner Raghav wanted a direction from the top court to determine the carrying capacity of all ecologically fragile areas, hill stations, high-altitude areas, highly visited areas and tourism destinations in the Himalayan region states/UTs. He urged the top court to direct the government to take steps to assess the carrying capacity and master plans prepared for the Indian Himalayan region.

Raghav also demanded setting up of an Indian Himalayan region monitoring committee as a permanent regulatory body with a multi-tier structural and functional framework headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court to monitor all activities in the Himalayan region and to report to the court on a periodic basis.

The issue assumes importance in view of the recent landslides in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

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