Uttarakhand High Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking Proper Implementation Of Environmental Laws In Mussoorie

The Uttarakhand High Court has issued notice to the state government, the union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the state pollution control board and Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority on a PIL raising concerns about the deteriorating environmental conditions in Mussoorie.

The division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Alok Kumar Verma said the respondent authorities should deal with the specific allegations made by the petitioner in the plea. "In case, there is any merit found in the petitioner’s submissions by the respective respondents, without waiting for any further orders, we expect them to take the requisite and corrective steps," said the court.

The writ petition has been filed by lawyer and environmentalist Akash Vashishtha to seek directions for compliance of the Water (Prevention of Control of Pollution) Act, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Rules framed thereunder, in relation to Bio-medical Waste Management, Construction and Demolition Waste Management, E-waste (Management), and the Hazardous and other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) in Mussoorie.

Vashishtha in the plea has submitted that Mussoorie has witnessed unbridled construction of hotels and tourist lodges in recent years due to its relative proximity to Delhi, Ambala, and Chandigarh. He has alleged that the town is now suffering from serious problems of waste management, water scarcity, massive wastewater generation, open discharge of sewage, and a decrease in the green cover, especially during the summer tourist season.

The petition also raises concerns about the failure of the Nagar Palika Parishad to discharge its constitutional obligations under Article 243W, as well as under Section 7 of the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act. It also alleges non-compliance of the Doon Valley Notification of 1989.

"In the last 11 years, the Nagar Palika Parishad has failed to conduct a single plantation exercise in Mussoorie. Not a single sapling has been planted in Mussoorie, by the Nagar Palika Parishad," according to the petition.

Since the Mussoorie Nagar Palika Parishad was not an impleaded as a party respondent, the petitioner made a prayer for adding it in the memo of parties. Allowing the request, the court also issued notice to the municipality. 

The matter will now be taken up on 5 September.

Case Title- Akash Vashishtha v. State Of Uttarakhand & Ors.

Counsel for Petitioner-Rakshit Joshi and Atrie Adhikari

Counsel for Respondents-S.S. Chauhan,Virendra Kaparuwan,Aditya Pratap Singh,Rajeev Bhatt,Pankaj Chaturvedi,Rahul Consul.

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