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The Supreme Court on Tuesday has directed that a Hotel cum restaurant on a forest land in Himachal Pradesh should be demolished because the structure has been made illegally. The order upholds the decision of the National Green Tribunal. The decision was taken by a three judge bench if justices DY Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee.
The National green Tribunal discovered that the Bus Stand complex at McLeod Ganj, where the Hotel Cum Restaurant is situated, not only violates the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, it also disturbs the ecology of the region. Compensation worth Rs. 15 lakh with respect to section 15 and 17 of the NGT Act, 2010 has to be paid by the authority. It also directed the State of Himachal Pradesh and its Tourism Department to pay Rs. 5 lakh each as Compensation.
The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Green Tribunal and said that there was no permission granted for constructing a commercial structure in the area.
The Apex Court stated that “We cannot be stupefied into inaction by not having access to complete details about the manner in which an environmental law violation has occurred or its full implications. Instead, the framework, acknowledging the imperfect world that we inhabit, provides a roadmap to deal with environmental law violations, an absence of clear evidence of consequences notwithstanding.”
The Court observed that even when the relevant department tried to stop the construction from going forward by not approving the plans, it still went ahead.
The court clearly said that “A lack of scientific certainty is no ground to imperil the environment” and did not give its endorsement to the construction of the bus stand.
Thus, the court held the construction to be illegal and directed for Hotel-cum Restaurant structure to start to be demolished within two weeks.
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