NGT Constitutes Committee To Probe Illegal Construction Of Road In Nainital

The bench comprising Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Dr. A. Senthil Vel and Dr. Afroz Ahmed said, “The allegation made in the OA reflects violation of environmental laws specially the scheduled acts and involves substantial questions relating to the environment.”

These observations were made while hearing the plea filed against the grievances of some hotel owners who, with the support of the Forest Department, demolished and cut the reserved forest land located on the sloping hills in Naina Devi Himalayan Bird Conservation Reserve in the Budh-Pangot area of Nainital, Uttarakhand, to construct a road.

It was alleged that widening of the said road had continued till December 2022 by cutting the forest land on the sides of this road in violation of the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Considering the allegations, the Court constituted a committee tasked with ascertaining the nature of the land on which the alleged road has been constructed, determining the name and other details of the trees, if any, that were felled in the process of road construction, assessing the extent of damage caused to the environment during this process, and suggesting any remedial actions needed for restoration.

The Tribunal also directed the Committee to disclose the names with full address of hotel owners/persons who are responsible for construction of roads.

While posting the matter for December 12, the Tribunal directed the Committee to submit the report within a period of eight weeks.

Case Title: Manoj Singh v. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Uttarakhand & Ors

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