New Delhi — The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notices to the Centre, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and several agencies after videos of timber logs floating in floodwaters raised alarm over illegal tree felling in the Himalayan region.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran said recent floods and landslides across northern states highlighted serious ecological concerns. “From the media reports, it is also noticed that in the flood, huge numbers of wooden logs were flowing along. Prima facie, it appears that there has been illegal felling of the trees which has been going on,” the CJI observed.
During the hearing of a PIL filed by environmentalist Anamika Rana, the court noted reports of fields and villages in Punjab being submerged and said development must go hand in hand with ecological safeguards.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the bench that he would direct the Union Environment Secretary to coordinate with the concerned states immediately. “We have interfered with nature so much that nature is giving back now. It cannot be permitted,” he said.
The petitioner also pointed to 14 tunnels along the Chandigarh–Manali route, claiming they turn into “death traps” during heavy rains, with 300 people recently stranded inside one of them due to landslides.
The bench also issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Jal Shakti, National Disaster Management Authority, and the National Highways Authority of India.
Videos of large numbers of timber logs floating in the Ravi river and earlier in the Pandoh Dam reservoir in Himachal’s Mandi district have fueled concerns about organised illegal logging, especially after recent flash floods in Kullu’s Gadsa and Sainj valleys.
Rana’s PIL seeks court intervention to establish guidelines preventing ecological disasters in the Himalayan states, including the possibility of appointing a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of experts to study the causes of recurring landslides, cloudbursts, and flash floods.
The matter has been listed for hearing in two weeks.
