A portion of the Chandigarh-Manali highway was washed away after heavy rainfall led to flooding in the Beas river in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, in August.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 23, 2025) asked the Himachal Pradesh government to come completely clean on its plans for disaster management, its climate change and tourism policies, constructions and industrialisation, details of mega hydroelectric projects, four-lane highways and even the number of trees felled and prosecutions pending district-wise over the years.
A Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, in a suo motu case, quoted the Supreme Court’s observation that “humans, not nature, are responsible for the phenomenon such as continuous landslides, collapsing of houses and buildings, subsidence of roads, etc,” against the backdrop of landslides and flash floods which have wrecked the State during the monsoon season.
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The court has recorded a series of questions prepared for the State government by its amicus curiae, senior advocate K. Parameshwar, including “whether zoning (if any) is done on the basis of seismic activity/ landslides/ green cover/ eco-sensitivity”.
The court has sought if the State has any ecological sites which prohibit industrialisation/ bringing up of mega projects.
The Bench has sought details of designated protected areas/ reserved forests/ wildlife sanctuaries/ national parks and eco-sensitive sites in the State and whether the eco-sensitive zones have been notified across the protected areas.
‘Change in green cover’
It has sought details of the total designated forest area in Himachal Pradesh and how much of the forest area has been diverted for non-forest use in the last two decades.
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“What percentage of tree cover and forest cover have changed across the State over the last two decades? The district-wise details over the last ten years are to be placed on record. Has the State conducted any tree survey and/or forest surveys and/or any other study to analyse the changes, if any, in the green cover in the State?” the order has queried.
It has also sought statistics of the permissions issued to private entities or public sector undertakings for felling 500 or more trees in bulk. Statistics for the last 10 years has to be provided along with the details of cases/ prosecutions pending.
“Details of disaster management plans prepared by the State and steps that have been taken for implementation thereof… Details of funds allocated for disaster management in the State for the last 20 years and the details of utilisation thereof, to be placed on record. Details of projects, if any, with the stage thereof undertaken by the State Disaster Mitigation Fund. Details of State Highways and National Highways in the State of Himachal Pradesh with specific details on the number of highways which are four-lane. Details of upcoming/ proposed highways (State/National) and their stages of completion,” the order has asked.
The court has sought the details to be placed on record before the next hearing on October 28.
Published – September 23, 2025 10:37 pm IST
