Uttarakhand HC orders environmental audit before opening 30 peaks to tourists - Hindustan Times
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Uttarakhand HC orders environmental audit before opening 30 peaks to tourists

Aug 05, 2022 09:58 PM IST

To the Uttarakhand government’s assertion that the state has framed guidelines for tourists and mountaineers, the high court bench responded that such measures only appear very good on paper

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand high court has directed the state government to conduct an environmental audit of 30 Himalayan peaks and 10 trails before opening them for mountaineers and tourists.

The Uttarakhand high court ordered an environmental audit before opening 30 peaks and 10 trails to mountaineers and tourists (ANI File Photo/Representative)
The Uttarakhand high court ordered an environmental audit before opening 30 peaks and 10 trails to mountaineers and tourists (ANI File Photo/Representative)

The court ordered the government to comply with the direction within four weeks. The order, issued by a division bench of chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice RC Khulbe on a petition by Almora-based Jitendra Yadav, was issued on Wednesday but the copy of the order was made available on Thursday.

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Last month, the state government decided to open 30 new peaks and 10 trails for mountaineers and tourists, following the Centre’s decision in August 2019 to open up 137 Himalayan peaks in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Dushyant Mainali, who appeared for Jitendra Yadav, said the petition blamed the state government for the ecological degradation, citing its inability to implement solid waste management laws and ignorance and non-observance of extended producers responsibility.

The high court noted that the state pollution control body’s counsel Aditya Pratap Singh said that the board’s clearance was not taken before taking the decision.

“While there can be no denial of the fact that the state should encourage tourism, as tourism is an important industry for Uttarakhand, at the same time, the endeavour of the state should be to ensure that such tourism is responsible tourism. This means that, before opening up new areas for tourism, such as peaks and trails - which obviously are in the remotest parts of the state, an assessment of the impact that such endeavours would have, should be made, particularly the impact on the eco-system due to the spread of biodegradable, non-biodegradable and other kind of waste, such as human waste,” the order stated.

When the chief standing counsel told the high court that the state government has framed guidelines required to be followed by tourists and mountaineers, the bench responded that such measures appear very good on paper.

“Our experience shows that when it comes to implementation, there is complete failure, which results in the object not being achieved, and mounds of garbage, particularly non-biodegradable and plastic waste getting collected, and the soil and water bodies getting polluted with human and kitchen waste,” the order said.

Aditya Pratap Singh said the pollution control board will conduct an environmental audit to study the expedition routes, check the mechanism is in place on these routes for collection and disposal of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, and the steps needed to ensure there is no damage to the fragile environment of the Himalayas.

“Most of these peaks are above 6000metres. So, we will check what will the trekkers do with biowaste and nonbiodegradable waste generated. We will also suggest the carrying capacity of these peaks and trails and suggest the number of expeditions and number of people that should be allowed per expedition.”

Tilak Soni Himalayan, adventure consultant and operator, said an environmental audit was a welcome step but the trekking and other adventure activities should not be stopped as such activities are done only in a particular season and have a very narrow window of time.

Since the state government claimed that such measures have been put in place, the high court ordered the government to file an affidavit listing the number and location of designated sites earmarked for collection of non-biodegradable waste, infrastructure deployed by the forest department to transfer non-biodegradable garbage from designated sites to the recycling points and the infrastructural facilities (boarding, lodging and transportation) available with the state government such as tourist rest houses, forest rest houses and homestay facilities en route villages of such expedition routes.

The HC also directed the state government to file an affidavit listing steps taken, or are proposed to be taken in respect to the sanitation situation in Haridwar in the aftermath of the Kanwar Yatra in which 3.8 crore people participated.

“Let the petitioner make a survey of the Haridwar district, and to place before this court its findings, with regard to the impact of the Kanwar Yatra in relation to solid waste pollution in the said district (Haridwar), before the next date”, the order said

“We have no doubt that the administration has taken some steps to deal with the situation created by the just-concluded Kanwar Yatra, which saw crores of people come into Haridwar to collect the holy water from the river Ganges. The issue is, whether, the arrangements made and steps taken have actually translated into action, sufficient to deal with the situation completely. From the news reports, it appears that there is a lag between the arrangements made and implemented, and those that were called for”.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    He is principal correspondent based at Bhopal. He covers environment and wildlife, state administration, BJP and other saffron organisations. He has special interest in social issues based stories.

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