Shimla: Himachal Pradesh high court has questioned the identification of forest land for muck dumping near Dharamshala, observing that the forest department’s primary responsibility is to protect forest land from non-forest purposes.Hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on rampant muck dumping in and around Dharamshala, a division bench of Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi expressed concern that five of the six identified sites fall on forest land, requiring clearances under the Forest Rights Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act.The bench took exception to a joint inspection report identifying the sites signed by the divisional forest officer and municipal corporation joint commissioner, Dharamshala.“The issue which bothers this court is whether forest land can at all be identified or utilised for muck dumping, and whether the forest department can be a signatory to such a decision when its primary duty is to ensure that forest land is not converted,” the bench observed.The bench noted that there was nothing on record to show that the authorities had made efforts to identify suitable alternative land belonging to other govt departments in the district for muck disposal.The observations came after the state informed the court that the forest department’s reply would be adopted by other respondents.Kangra deputy commissioner Hemraj Bairwa, who appeared via videoconferencing, submitted that he would file an affidavit detailing available non-forest land and steps taken by the administration to identify such sites. The court also directed the Dharamshala chief conservator of forests to file a supplementary reply addressing the proposed use of forest land.The high court initiated the suo motu proceedings following a Feb 2025 news report on plastic waste and construction debris polluting water channels, slopes, and forests in Kangra district. Despite a March 2025 order directing the state to report on designated dumping sites, repeated delays by govt departments led the court to impose fines for extensions.The next hearing is on Dec 2.
