The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a panel to assess the environmental damage caused by private hotel owners who allegedly constructed a road in violation of regulations within the Naina Devi Himalayan Bird Conservation Reserve in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district.
This action from the NGT came in response to a petition that accused several hotel owners of colluding with forest department officials to construct a road inside the reserve, specifically in the Budh-Pangot area, in the year 2017. The petition further claimed that the widening of the road continued until December 2022.
The road’s construction involved the felling of trees and the “demolition” of reserve forest land, constituting a clear violation of the Forest Conservation Act and the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change in March 2019.
A bench of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava acknowledged that the allegations raised a substantial environmental concern. In response, the bench determined it appropriate to constitute a joint committee comprising the Wildlife Warden of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board, and the District Magistrate of Nainital. The district magistrate will play the role of the coordinating and compliance agency, as specified by the bench, which also includes expert members A Senthil Vel and Afroz Ahmad.
The tribunal’s order outlined the committee’s responsibilities, which include visiting the site to determine the nature of the land on which the alleged road was constructed, identifying and documenting the names and other relevant details of any trees that were felled during the road construction, assessing the extent of environmental damage incurred during the process, and proposing any necessary remedial actions for restoration.
Additionally, the committee is tasked with disclosing the names of the individuals responsible for the road’s construction, including the hotel owners. The tribunal has set a deadline of eight weeks for the committee to submit its report.
The case is scheduled for further proceedings on December 11, 2023.