Well-intentioned court, toothless verdicts threaten Uttarakhand's ecology

The concluding part of a three-part series looks at why the HC's rulings are dismissed so often

With the recent lifting of a ban on mining in Uttarakhand, its fragile ecology is being threatened like never before. The concluding part of a three-part series looks at why the high court’s rulings are dismissed so often.

When the Supreme Court (SC) on April 10 upturned a Uttarakhand High Court ruling that had banned all mining in the state for the next four years, it raised a burning question.  Why are so many of the Uttarakhand HC’s rulings are being either dismissed by the SC or simply disregarded? The answers may lie in the nature of HC’s rulings, which many criticise as being, sometimes too sweeping in their response to very specific petition. This makes them impractical to implement. 

A blanket ban on mining in the entire state, in response to a PIL (public-interest litigation) seeking a stay on mining only in four villages in Bageshwar, is not an isolated case. Here’s a look at some others: In 2014, when Mohammad Saleem filed a PIL seeking a removal of encroachments on the Ganga canal in the Dehradun district, little did he know that the HC would, in its response in March 2017, declare the Ganga and Yamuna rivers to be living entities with human rights. The Bench has, however, given neither an implementation road map nor clear directions about what this far-reaching new status of the two sacred rivers will actually mean. Similarly, in late 2016, a PIL was filed about the government’s decision to open a bar in Hardwar, which was in violation of the law prohibiting the consumption and sale of alcohol in and around the pilgrimage centre. The HC responded by banning the consumption of alcohol and tobacco in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts in Uttarakhand — even though the petition had not asked for this.  There have been several instances where the Uttarakhand HC’s rulings have simply being ignored. For example, in early this year, the HC banned the use of all plastic bags and bottles in the state. Many see this ban as being unenforceable, as there is no regulation policy for polythene manufacturing units across Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, which are distributing polythene in Uttarakhand. Consequently, while the ban is being followed, at least partially, in Nainital and Dehradun, one can still see dumps full of plastic in and around the Corbett Tiger Reserve. “While there has been an overall reduction in the volume of plastic waste here, one can still see it dumped all over in Corbett,” said Minakshi Pandey of Waste Warriors Corbett, a non-governmental organisation that is working on sustainable waste management practices in the villages and resorts of the area.

“But how can a ban of this sort be strictly imposed in areas, which are heavily frequented by tourists from other states where plastic is still allowed?” she said. 

In another case in 2010, the Uttarakhand HC had ruled that all encroachments that had come up during the festival of goddess Purnagiri in Champawat must be removed. However, as the festival is the primary draw for tourists and pilgrims to this area, this has not been implemented. 

“The problem with the Uttarakhand HC’s orders is that although they talk about ground realities, they don’t often get implemented at the ground level,” said Professor Ajay Rawat. “Sometimes, this is due to the lack of political will, and sometimes, it is because of the constraints of the bureaucracy and the clout of the mafia.” 

Often, it is the state government which, under pressure from different lobbies, challenges the HC’s orders. The recent challenge on the mining ban is just one example. 

Even when the HC banned the use and sale of plastic bags, the state government had appealed to the National Green Tribunal to relax the ban, at least during the Ardh Kumbh fair in Haridwar. 

“The HC’s rulings are rendered worthless if there is no political and bureaucratic will to implement them,” said Rawat.  

Thanks to this sometimes-on, sometimes-off relationship between the HC and the state machinery, the condition of Uttarakhand’s environment is hanging in balance today. With the resumption of the sand mining on the Kosi, Ramganga, Dabka and Gaula rivers and the renewed plans for building a highway through Corbett, the pro-environment lobby has come to believe that the Uttarakhand HC’s orders are well-intentioned, but often toothless.