Entire Himalayan range facing ecological crisis: SC

New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday said the issue concerning ecology and environmental conditions was not going to be limited to Himachal Pradesh only as the entire Himalayan range, which was "very violent" this time, was facing it.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said it would pass its order on September 23 in the suo motu matter concerning issues relating to ecology and environmental conditions prevailing in Himachal Pradesh.

"Ultimately, it is not going to be limited to Himachal only. It is the entire Himalayan range that is facing this. This time around, it has been very very violent," Justice Mehta observed.

During the hearing, Himachal Pradesh's advocate general and additional advocate general informed the bench about a report filed by the state in the matter.

"We will give you a brief order after summarising everything so that you can get specific instructions," the bench said.

Senior advocate K Parmeshwar, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said the report filed by the state covered many aspects, including tree cover.

"The report covers a number of aspects. It might not be possible to deal with all the aspects at one go. They have covered from tree cover to mining aspect, glaciers etc.," he said.

Parmeshwar flagged that there were no specifics in the report.

He said the state had contended in the report that there were some concerns with glacier reduction and glacier movement but those specifics were not there.

"All that the report promises is to set up of a committee to look into these," the amicus said, adding that the canvass was too broad.

The state's additional advocate general referred to a part of the report which said Himachal Pradesh was actively working on creation of a state-level glacier registry.

The report said the integrated studies of Himalayan cryosphere was conducted by comparing glacier inventories of period from 2016 to 2019 with year 2001-2002 for various basins in Himachal Pradesh.

"The following findings of the scientific analysis reveals that while glacier numbers have largely remained stable or shown minor increases, their total area has declined, indicating gradual shrinkage...," it said.

The report said the recent devastations in the form of high-intensity rainfall, cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides, variations in snowfall patterns, and receding glaciers were manifestations of climate change, an undeniable global phenomenon resulting from extensive industrialization, rising greenhouse gas emissions and unsustainable practices at regional, national and global levels.

On the concern raised by the court regarding destruction caused by hydropower projects, the report said such projects might not be considered the primary cause of destruction in the state.

"Recent flash floods and cloudbursts have occurred in areas far away from hydropower installations. These destructive events were mainly caused by cloudbursts happening at higher altitudes and mountain peaks where no hydropower projects exist," it said.

The report also said national highway projects in the state were undertaken after due diligence, planning and coordination with the various stakeholder departments, and includes public consultation where applicable.

On the court's concern regarding destruction caused by deforestation due to developmental projects, the report said to rehabilitate and rejuvenate, the state through forest department undertakes tree planting in degraded area, and even on the evicted encroachment.

It said between 2018 and 2025, the state witnessed a surge in extreme weather events, with 434 incidents recorded across districts.

"These disasters claimed 123 lives and caused significant livestock losses, severely impacting rural communities reliant on agriculture, horticulture, and animal husbandry," the report said.

On July 28, a different bench of the apex court had said the state might "vanish in thin air" if the situation did not change.

Observing that the situation in the state had deteriorated, the top court had said climate change was having a "visible and alarming impact" on the state.

The top court was then dealing with a petition against an order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which declined to entertain a plea challenging the state's June 2025 notification declaring certain areas as "green area".

While refusing to interfere with the high court's order, the apex court said the obvious reason for issuing the notification was to curb construction activities in a particular area.

The bench had said according to experts and various reports, the major causes of destruction in the state were hydropower projects, four-lane roads, deforestation, multi-storey buildings, etc.

It observed Himachal Pradesh was nestled in the lap of the Himalayan mountains and it was important to seek the opinion of geologists, environmental experts and locals before undertaking development projects. PTI ABA ABA KVK KVK