HP High Court directs Center, state officials to check illegal tree felling

SHIMLA: The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has issued notices to the Center, other state officials and a private respondent Uday Prakash, directing them to check all illegal activities on the forest land in Mauza Shivpuri of Nahan tehsil, Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. The High Court also ordered Ram Kumar Gautam, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur to ensure prohibition of felling of trees on the forest land.

The order was passed after the petitioner Nahan Gaurav Vikas Sanstha, Sirmaur district accused the respondent Uday Prakash of illegally cutting trees on the forest land of Mauza Shivpuri. The petitioner mentioned that their previous pleas to the concerned officials, regarding the issue, went unheard. The petitioner also requested the court to set up an independent committee to look into the issue of felling of trees in the protected forest land and take appropriate action against those responsible.