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2024 Supreme(Online)(NGT) 2382
NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL NEW DELHI (PRINCIPAL BENCH)
PRAKASH SHRIVASTAVA, Chairperson, ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, Judicial Member, AFROZ AHMAD, Expert Member
NEWS ITEM PUBLISHED IN THE HINDU DATED 27 FEB 2022 TITLED " TOURISM HAS BROUGHT ECONOMIC PROSPERITY TO THE HIMALAYAN REGION BUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL COST HAS BEEN CATASTROPHIC" VS
M.A. No. 14/2024 In Original Application No. 178/2022 | Original Application No. 475/2024
For the Respondents: Ms. Sonali Malhotra & Ms. Sakshi Singh, Advs. for MoEF & CC (Through VC)
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar & Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Advs. for the State of Manipur
Mr. Vikrant Pachnanda & Mr. Mukul Katyal, Advs. for CPCB in OA 475/2024
Mr. Vaibhav Srivastava, Mr. Bhargava Ravikumar & Mr. Puneet Rajta, Advs. for HP SPCB
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Adv. for the State of Nagaland, Nagaland SPCB & Meghalaya SPCB
Mr. Raj Kumar, Advocate for LPCC in OA 475/2024
Mr. Arnab Ray, Adv. for Tripura SPCB (Through VC)
Mr. Ghansham Singh, Member Secretary, J&K PCC (Through VC)
Mr. Anando Mukherjee & Mr. Shwetank Singh, Advs. for MPCB (Through VC)
NGT mandates implementation of expert study recommendations by Himalayan States/UTs to mitigate tourism-induced environmental degradation through carrying capacity assessments, waste management, pollution monitoring.
Headnote:(A) National Green Tribunal Act - Suo motu jurisdiction - Environmental protection - Himalayan Region - Tourism impacts - Unregulated tourism causing solid waste generation, air and water pollution, biodiversity loss - Study by institute reveals correlations between tourist influx and waste/air pollution in several states - Directions issued for implementation of recommendations including carrying capacity assessments, waste management, air quality monitoring, promotion of electric vehicles. (Paras 1-15)
(B) Environmental Law - Eco-sensitive zones - Carrying capacity studies mandatory - Zonal Master Plans and Tourism Master Plans required - Chief Secretaries of States/UTs to ensure compliance with study recommendations by specified dates - MoEF&CC to collate reports. (Paras 15-16)
Facts of the case:
Suo motu OAs registered on news items highlighting catastrophic environmental costs of tourism in Himalayan Region including plastic choking mountains, microplastics in glaciers/rivers, waste from unregulated tourism - Institute study (EATIHR) analyzed 13 States/UTs covering waste generation, air/water quality, biodiversity impacts - No objections filed by States to report.
Findings of Court:
Recommendations in EATIHR accepted as undisputed - Specific measures mandated for each State/UT including carrying capacity studies for tourist spots, waste management infrastructure, air/water quality monitoring networks, biodiversity conservation, promotion of sustainable tourism practices like electric vehicles.
Issues: Whether recommendations in environmental assessment study binding; measures required to mitigate tourism impacts on fragile Himalayan ecosystems; compliance timelines for States/UTs.
Ratio Decidendi: Undisputed expert study findings binding - States/UTs obligated to implement recommendations expeditiously to protect eco-sensitive Himalayan environment - Chief Secretaries to monitor compliance, report via MoEF&CC - Matters relisted if necessary.
Result: OAs disposed with directions - Compliance reports by 31.01.2026 (States/UTs to MoEF&CC) and 31.03.2026 (collated to Tribunal).
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. suo motu oas on himalayan plastic and tourism pollution (Para 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. tribunal directions and eatihr study compliance (Para 4 , 5 , 6 , 7) |
| 3. ihr overview and eatihr key findings (Para 8 , 9 , 10 , 11) |
| 4. state-wise eatihr environmental assessments (Para 12) |
| 5. eatihr summary of tourism impacts (Para 13) |
| 6. implementation of eatihr recommendations ordered (Para 14 , 15 , 16) |
ORDER
1. Original Application No. 475/2024 was registered suo motu on the basis of the news item disclosing that the "Mountains of plastic are choking the Himalayan States". The news item was in respect of deposition and accumulation of microplastic in the Himalayan Mountains, rivers, lakes and streams. It discloses that these microplastics can be trapped in glaciers for a long time and get released into rivers during snow melting. It further states that the Indian Himalayan Region is a critical source of water in the subcontinent, feeding several major rivers of India including the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River systems and that unscientific plastic disposal is causing soil and water pollution in the Indian Himalayan Region and impacting its biodiversity, which is having an adverse impact on the fresh water sources on which the communities downstream depend. The cause of this plastic pollution is stated to be rapid and unplanned urbanization and changing production and consumption patterns along with a quantum jump in tourist footfall. The article further reveals that, as per the Himalayan cleanup waste audit in 2022, 92.7% of trash was plastic, with 72% of waste being non-recyclable plastic. The news item further states that India has one of the highest Mismanaged Waste Index (MWI), at 98.55%, and in the World, India is in 4th position. MWI is the gap in waste management capacity and plastic consumption. The article further claims that India is merely recycling 12% of its plastic waste through mechanical recycling.
2. The connected matter, MA No. 14/2024 in OA No. 178/2022 has been registered based on the status report submitted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt. of India in pursuance to the order dated 09.03.2022 passed in OA No. 178/2022.
3. The OA No. 178/2022 was also registered based on the media report disclosing that there was huge damage to the environment in the eco- sensitive Himalayan States of India on account of unregulated tourism activities. The news item disclosed that while tourism generates huge income and employment, it also results in the generation of huge waste that is not scientifically handled causing damage to the fragile eco-system of Himalayas. It alleges absence of requisite facilities to remediate the waste in a scientific manner and the resultant hillocks of garbage in the peripheries of the cities in that region resulting in release of harmful toxic gases in the atmosphere, contamination of ground water due to the formation of leachate and air pollution due to open burning of waste.
4. The Tribunal by order dated 09.03.2022 had disposed of the OA No. 178/2022 directing G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora to undertake the study of 12 Himalayan States and update any study already conducted by directing as under:
“xxx ………………………………..xxx……………………………………xxx
4. Accordingly, we direct the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora, which is tasked with studies of Himalayan region in particular, which includes Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal Hills, Meghalaya, Assam Hills, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to undertake study and to update any study already conducted in light of the inputs available in the above media report. Such study/updation exercise may be completed within three months. A report in this regard be provided to the Chief Secretaries of 12 States in Himalayan region as well as to the Secretary, Environment and Secretary, Tourism, Government of India for furth
