Nature, not man, uprooted the Himalayan logs seen floating in flood waters: Himachal assures SC

Ecologically-precious Himalayan tree cover seen floating down Rivers Ravi and Beas is actually driftwood uprooted by the vagaries of global climate change, and not victims of large-scale illegal tree-felling, the Himachal Pradesh government assured the Supreme Court.

The State government was responding to the top court’s concern about videos of large numbers of logs flowing in the swollen river waters after flash floods and landslides across Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai had been alarmed enough to remark, while hearing a petition filed by Anamika Rana represented by advocate Akash Vashishtha, that “if this goes on, we will be left with no forests… development is needed, but not at the cost of the environment and lives”. The court had asked the States to enquire into whether illicit felling was happening amidst the chaos of natural disasters.

Responding to the questions raised by the top court, the Himachal Pradesh said it had formed two committees to conduct field inspections which found no “explicit evidence” of any large-scale or organised illicit felling as reported in social media reports. It said the media reports were factually incorrect.

The logs accumulated in the banks of both rivers were “naturally fallen or decayed trees and salvage debris”.

“Most logs have signs of natural breakage and irregular shapes caused by rocks and river currents. Many were found with roots and stumps. The position is fortified by the testimony of local communities, panchayat representatives, photo and video evidence,” the State submitted.

However, at the same time, the State added a rider that “one cannot rule out stray and isolated cases of illegal felling in the region”, only to quickly add that the State forest department was vigilant and took “immediate legal action against violators”.

The State said the driftwood was evidence of a “complex multi-causal crisis”. It was a result of tree interweaving factors – dramatic shifts in monsoon patterns towards more intense, hyper-local rainfall events; geologically fragile ecosystem highly susceptible to landslides and erosion; and, to an extent, accelerated pace of developmental activities.

In River Ravi banks along the Chamba region, the State said a total of 177 logs of various species were measured, numbered and quantified. It said steps have already been taken to auction the driftwood collected on the sides of the rivers. The revenue from the auction would be deposited in the State exchequer. On a complaint of “lost” timber reported by the Chamba District Magistrate, the State suggested they may be buried under the landslide debris or stuck upstream in the catchment.

Similarly, the State pointed out that River Beas in the heavily forested Kullu region, home to tree species like the deodar, pine, fir and oak, was also hit by sudden and intense rainfall causing the saturation of soil which destabilise root anchorage. High velocity floodwaters, flash floods also trigger massive soil erosion in the region.

“Himachal Pradesh is witnessing pronounced climatic shifts, including rising temperatures, altered snowfall patterns and increased frequency of landslides, cloudburst and flash floods. The State saw 320 fatalities in the 2025 monsoon season alone. It is facing acute manifestations of global climate change, threatening its ecology, infrastructure and livelihoods,” the State painted a grim picture.