Environmentalists and activists has welcomed the Supreme Court’s intervention after videos showed massive timber logs being washed down by floodwaters in Himachal Pradesh. They said the development should push the state to frame a sustainable policy that respects the fragile mountain ecology and prevents reckless projects in sensitive zones.
A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran said, “In the flood, huge numbers of wooden logs were flowing around… Prima facie, it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees, which has been going on uphill.” The court issued notices to the Centre, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ministry of Jal Shakti, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, along with the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
One video widely shared on social media showed large numbers of logs floating in Pong Dam in Mandi. Another clip from Chamba showed a similar scene near the Old Sheetla Suspension Bridge on the Ravi River. The visuals sparked concerns about large-scale timber felling in fragile mountain areas.
Also Read: NGT weighs eco-sensitive tag for higher Himalayas
Kullu-based activist Sandeep Minhas said the court’s step was timely but warned against closing the matter after the state’s reply. “We expect the Supreme Court will not shut the matter just after reviewing the government’s version. The court should direct the state to bring a sustainable development policy suited to the topography and ecological needs of mountain states, instead of allowing haphazard projects in fragile zones,” he said.
Earlier, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had ordered a CID inquiry into the Pong Dam incident after the forest department’s initial report on July 8 ruled out illegal felling in the Beas catchment. The CID probe, however, is still pending. Similarly, when logs were seen floating in the Ravi River, the forest department again denied illegal felling.
Rakesh Kumar, Conservator of Forest, Kangra, said, “After the videos were shared on the social media, we were told to look into the matter. We verified the wood and logs floating into the water and also visited many areas affected with cloudbursts, landslides etc on the banks of river Ravi. We found no traces of illegal felling, sleepers etc. The logs that came floating down Old Sheetla Suspension Bridge are the uprooted trees and most of them have stumps and trunks intact suggesting these were not axed trees. We have submitted our report.”
Rakesh Kumar further added that wooden logs did not accumulate in the Ravi instantly. “There are two-three major dams at Chamela. The trees which were uprooted time to time due to the landslides and other events first assembled in these dams. As the water level increased and dams’ flood gates were opened, these logs floated downstream,” he said.
In July, the Forest and Wildlife Department had already said cloudbursts on June 25 in the Garsa Valley of Kullu and the Greater Himalayan National Park had uprooted large numbers of trees. A probe ordered by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Sameer Rastogi later concluded that uprooted trees and deadwood had been carried almost 27 km by strong floodwaters before piling up at Pandoh Dam in Mandi.
Still, environmentalists say the presence of so much timber points to weak forest monitoring and poor disaster preparedness.
Industry Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, reacting to the Supreme Court’s remarks, said, “Forest officials must go to the ground and check if illegal felling is taking place. IFS and DFOs should be in the forests to see what’s going on.”
Also Read: SC notice to Centre, U'khand, HP, NHAI over illegal tree felling
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