In an encouraging move, the Supreme Court has taken cognisance of shocking levels of deforestation in the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, besides Jammu, Kashmir and Punjab, and called for action by the states and Union governments. A bench led by Chief Justice Gavai echoed the concern of the entire country at the sight of a staggering number of logs floating down swollen rivers like the Ravi and issued notices to the National Highways Authority of India and others. It is no secret that furious road construction and dam building in montane states has rendered them greatly vulnerable to disaster, their losses aggravated by frequent extreme weather events. In fact, the petitioner before the court brought up the situation in 14 road tunnels between Chandigarh and Manali, which pose a threat to travellers whenever sudden, heavy rain occurs. Catastrophic annual events in coastal states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala have, for some years now, shown what unpredictable and extreme rainfall linked to climate change can do. What makes millions more vulnerable to deadly mudslides and floods is illegal logging. It is encouraging that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will be taking up this crisis with the respective states, but an effective outcome would depend on the court continuing to review the action taken. This would be consistent with its reasoning in the landmark Godavarman Thirumulpad case, where it treated a letter from a citizen in the Nilgiris as a petition and issued far-reaching ban orders on deforestation.
The deadly consequences for entire communities due to illegal and commercial-scale logging became all too evident in 1970, when floods in denuded hill landscapes in present-day Uttarakhand caused the death of scores of people. Chipko, a Gandhian movement that hugged trees and prevented logging in response, captured the imagination of the whole world. It would evidently be difficult to replicate Chipko’s success today for various reasons, but judicial intervention can still save the remaining forests. This holds true also for the tens of thousands of old-growth trees in a 160 sq km area that face the axe for the Great Nicobar Project, involving a port and airport on a pristine island that is home only to tribal people. Sustainability principles call for strict restrictions on commercial activities in ecologically fragile areas, and scientific forecasts for the Himalayan states underscore this frequently. Governments have been unsuccessfully trying to introduce travel permits for hill stations in several states, since easier mobility, an explosion of personal vehicles, expanded road building, informal bed and breakfast arrangements and social media-inspired travel have all ratcheted up the pressure. Mehta’s description of floods as ‘nature’s payback’ is accurate, but then, it is not a new problem. The remedies, unfortunately, have few champions in government. It would take an activist court to change that.
