Kullu: The Supreme Court has ordered a probe into alleged illegal construction, hill cutting, and tree felling in Shimla’s ecologically sensitive green belt areas, directing the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to examine the matter and submit recommendations before Aug 24.The move comes as part of the apex court’s ongoing suo motu proceedings on Himachal Pradesh’s environmental issues.The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while allowing two interlocutory applications filed by environmentalist Yogendra Mohan Sengupta.The court has ordered the CEC and an SC-appointed expert body, which investigates environmental matters, to undertake a phased examination of the issues by holding meetings with the concerned departments and authorities of the state govt.The committee has been authorised to call for records, maps, satellite imagery, scientific studies, and other material; undertake field inspections wherever necessary; and associate experts in ecology, forestry, geology, hydrology, disaster management, urban planning, and climate change.Sengupta’s intervention applications for interim relief contend that Shimla’s 17 green belt areas (”the lungs of the town”) — spread over around 414 hectares comprising predominantly deodar forests — are critical for maintaining slope stability, regulating water movement, and preserving Shimla’s fragile ecology.Maintaining that only a complete ban on construction in the green belt areas can save Shimla, Sengupta has sought a court-monitored survey of all 17 notified green belt areas to identify illegal constructions, hill cutting, and tree felling and to demarcate green belt boundaries on the ground using GIS and satellite imagery.He has also requested an immediate halt on all new constructions in the green belt areas; removal of illegal structures; and a scientific audit of constructions and activities in sinking and sliding zones, hill slopes, and landslide-prone areas within the planning area of the town.The SC has directed the CEC to file its first interim report at least three days before the next date of hearing, which is on Aug 24.The SC took suo motu cognisance of the issue in July 2025 after devastating monsoon disasters in Himachal Pradesh, observing that recurring floods, landslides, building collapses and road subsidence reflected a serious ecological imbalance aggravated by human and developmental activities in the state.Box:On an application moved by environmentalist Yogendra Mohan Sengupta, the NGT, in Nov 2017, imposed a blanket ban on all new constructions in Shimla’s core and green belt areas, holding that the restrictions were essential to protect the hill town’s fragile ecology.However, the satte govt had challenged the tribunal’s order before the SC, arguing that the blanket prohibition was too restrictive and that regulated development should be allowed under the Shimla Development Plan (SDP), which was notified in June 2023 and allows regulated constructions in Shimla’s green belts.The court, in its order on Jan 11, 2024, upheld the SDP, allowing regulated construction activities in the green belt areas of Shimla subject to environmental safeguards.
