Environmentalists demand Hill Regulation Authority; PMO refers to environment ministry

An NGO, NatConnect, has suggested the regulation and asked all the states to check the damage caused to mountains across the nation.

Navi Mumbai: Amid the landslides and cracks appearing at Joshimath, the environmentalists are calling for a Central Hill Regulation Authority – similar to the Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ). The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has referred the demand to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC).

Nobody seems to have ownership over the hills, NatConnect pointed out. The forest department allows destruction for infrastructure or housing projects, the revenue department is concerned with the collection of royalty from hill digging or quarrying and the environment department passes the buck. (HT PHOTO)

An NGO, NatConnect, has suggested the regulation and asked all the states to check the damage caused to mountains across the nation.

The Joshimath episode is akin to the tip of an iceberg as the rampant destruction of hills in the name of development in various parts of the country – including the Northeast and Andaman Nicobar Islands – can lead to many more disasters like the Joshimath, NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar said in its representation to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The PMO has said in its report that the demand has been referred to Rajendra Singh Bora, undersecretary in the MOEFCC.

In the email, also marked to chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Kumar drew their attention to repeated incidents of landslides in Mumbai and elsewhere which are nature’s warnings against playing with the hills and hill slopes.

Nobody seems to have ownership over the hills, NatConnect pointed out. The forest department allows destruction for infrastructure or housing projects, the revenue department is concerned with the collection of royalty from hill digging or quarrying and the environment department passes the buck.

There is a tendency to run down environmental concerns as anti-development, Kumar regretted and called for a serious look at the impact of infrastructure projects on nature and their lives.

City planners, such as CIDCO, have allotted 200 plots on Parsik Hill and planned a township in Kharghar Hills in Navi Mumbai, NatConnect said. “Despite opposition from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the people in general, CIDCO is still keen to revive quarrying of Parsik Hills.”

The Kharghar Hill development project is shocking, to say the least, said activists Jyoti Nadkarni and Nareshchandra Singh. The nature park idea that was developed in association with BNHS seems to have been given a go-by, Nadkarni said.

CIDCO said the township will have access to the Nature Park, Singh pointed out. He asked, “How can anyone have a massive residential colony touching a nature park and play with the biodiversity”?

Citing a recent experience, Kumar said the CM sent a series of complaints regarding the cutting of slopes of Parsik and Kharghar Hills to the Forest and Environment departments. But none of these authorities showed any inclination to take action.

The Parsik Hill had a landslide during the last monsoon and the NMMC’s water supply monitoring station escaped a major disaster, he added.

“This might look like a small incident for the planning agencies and authorities, but they are playing with the lives of people,” Parsik Hill Greens forum convenor Vishnu Joshi said. “How it does not strike the government officials that cutting off the Parsik Hill slope, with hundreds of buildings on top of it, would endanger the homes and the people.”

“Thanks to the intervention of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), we can now expect justice,” Parsik Hill Residents Association president Jayant Thakur said. The HRC is slated to have its final hearing on Thursday.

Nandakumar Pawar, head of Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, said despite the recurring landslides at hills in Mumbai, the authorities have not checked mushrooming slum colonies. “Our ministers and officials seem to be interested only in lip service at the time of disasters and forget about the tragedies later,” Pawar added.

Kumar and Pawar also pointed out that the upcoming highway projects through the hills in the state could also prove to be dangerous. No meaningful public hearings nor any environmental impact assessment (EIA) is done beforehand.

It is, therefore, essential that a Hill Regulation Authority is set up with powers and duties to check destruction and conserve the hills, they said.