Carrying Capacity Of 13 Himalayan States Should Be Assessed, Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has submitted a report before the Apex Court suggesting the constitution of an Expert Committee to determine the carrying capacity of 13 Himalayan Region States.

The Supreme Court has been considering a plea seeking for Carrying Capacity studies to be conducted in 13 Himachal States/UTs. On 21st August, a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra had directed the Petitioner and Respondent to discuss and suggest a way forward on the issue.

The plea before the Apex Court brought up concerns regarding uncontrolled and unsustainable construction of various commercial accommodations such as hotels, resorts, rest houses, and home stays, as well as hydropower projects and unregulated tourism in the Indian Himalayan Region. It also mentioned issues related to tunneling, rock/hill blasting, high traffic volume, air and water pollution, and poor waste management. These issues, as per the petition, are affecting the environment, ecology, geology, and hydrology of the region and are spread across 13 different States and Union territories, namely, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

The MoEFCC in its affidavit has informed the Apex Court that it is essential that ‘factual aspects of each hill-station are specifically identified and collected with the help of the local authorities cutting across multiple disciplines’.

The Ministry has informed the Court that it had circulated Guidelines for Assessing Carrying Capacity of Hill Stations including Cities and Eco-Sensitive Zones to all 13 Himalayan States on 30.01.2020 and had sent a reminder regarding the same on 19.05.2023. The Ministry submits in its affidavit that it had requested the states to submit their action plan, if the study had not been carried out yet, so that it could be carried out as early as possible. 

The Ministry has suggested that all 13 Himalayan States be directed to submit an Action Taken Report and an Action Plan, for taking steps to carry out the carrying capacity assessment as per guidelines prepared by G.B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment. For this purpose, the Ministry suggests constitution of a committee in each of the 13 Himalayan States headed by its Chief Secretary for carrying out the study as per guidelines of the G.B Pant Institute.

According to the Ministry, the G.B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment has considerable experience in preparing guidelines for carrying out Carrying Capacity Studies. The Ministry suggests that the carrying capacity studies prepared by the 13 Himalayan States be examined/evaluated by an Expert Committee headed by the Director of the G.B. Pant National Institute. The Ministry also suggests that Expert Committee so constituted, submit its suggestions to the 13 Himalayan States for execution and implementation of the carrying capacity studies, which will then be periodically reviewed.

The Ministry suggests the following members for constituting the Expert Committee headed by the Director, G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment:

i. Director, National Institute of Disaster Management, Bhopal or his nominee;

ii. Director, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee or his nominee;

iii. Director, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun or his

iv. Director, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur or his nominee;

v. Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun or his nominee;

vi. Director, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun or his nominee;

vii. Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun or his nominee;

viii. Director, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi or his nominee;

ix. Representatives of State Disaster Management Authorities

x. Representative from Geological Survey of India

xi. Representative from Survey of India

xii. Member Secretary, Central Pollution Control Board or his nominee; and

xiii. Member secretary, Central Ground Water Board, or his nominee;

The plea before the Apex Court claims that ecological damage has been caused in the Himalayan region because the central and state governments have failed to evaluate the Carrying Capacity or Bearing Capacity of ecologically sensitive areas, hill stations, high-altitude regions, and areas that receive heavy tourist traffic. The petition also stated that the governments failed to prepare and implement Master Plans, Tourism Plans, Lay-out Plans, Area Development Plans, and Zonal Plans.

The plea had also claimed that the uncontrolled construction and development of hydro power projects and hotels/resorts, exceeding the area's carrying capacity, was one of the main causes of the land sinking, subsidence, fissures, and cracks in Joshimath. It had stated that these geological problems had resulted in the destruction of more than 800 structures and affected more than 3000 families residing in the area.

Case Title: Ashok Kumar Raghav v. Union of India & Ors. | WP (C) No 144/2023