The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that “illegal” felling of trees appears to be rampant in the Himalayan region and expressed concern about timber logs floating in floodwaters in Himachal Pradesh, Live Law reported.
A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran sought responses from the Union government, the National Disaster Management Authority and the National Highways Authority of India in the matter.
The governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir were also issued notices amid the recent cloudbursts, flash floods and landslips in northern India.
“This is a very serious issue,” the bench was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “Logs are seen flowing with the flood waters. If this goes on, we will not have any forests left.”
The chief justice said that while development is necessary, it should not come at the “cost of the environment and lives”, reported the newspaper.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by environmentalist Anamika Rana, who highlighted concerns about environmental degradation in the Himalayan region.
Rana also told the bench that there are 14 tunnels between Chandigarh and Manali where nearly 300 persons were stranded during the floods.
She sought guidelines and an inquiry to prevent further ecological disasters in the region.
After issuing notices, the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, that ecological disasters in the Himalayas were a “serious issue”, Live Law reported.
Mehta expressed his agreement with the bench, and said that such a situation could not continue. “We are interfering with nature so much that nature is giving back,” he remarked.
The Supreme Court’s observation came against the backdrop of rain-related disasters claiming around 500 lives across the northern states this monsoon, reported The Times of India.
In Himachal Pradesh alone, the toll reached 182 on Tuesday.
In Punjab, 37 persons have died amid the worst floods in the state in the last four decades.
In Jammu and Kashmir, 132 persons have died and 33 remain missing after flash floods triggered by a cloudburst on August 14.
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