The Supreme Court has flagged serious environmental concerns after viral videos showed timber logs drifting through floodwaters in Himachal Pradesh. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran noted that rampant illegal tree-felling “prima facie” appears to be taking place across the Himalayan hills.

The court observed that they have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab… a huge number of wooden logs were flowing around. Prima facie, it appears that there has been illegal felling of the trees which has been going on up hills.

In response, the court issued notices to a slew of agencies—including the Ministries of Environment and Jal Shakti, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and state governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir.

After dictating its order, Chief Justice Gavai emphasized the gravity of the situation, remarking to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, “It is a serious issue… Illegal tree felling is going on.” Mehta told the bench he would urgently coordinate with the Secretary of the Environment Ministry to get the concerned Chief Secretaries involved.

Adding urgency to the environmental crisis, the petitioner’s counsel raised a related safety concern highlighting 14 tunnels between Chandigarh and Manali that become “near death traps” during heavy rains and landslides, citing an incident where 300 people were stranded inside one such tunnel.

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