Himachal: Lahaul Spiti’s eco-fragile area Koksar under NGT lens

SHIMLA: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notice to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and also district administration over consistent environmental degradation of Kokar, one of the vibrant and eco-sensitive areas in Lahaul-Spiti, a high altitude tribal district in Himachal Pradesh.

Kokar, which for a long time has served as base camp and halting area for the tourists/hikers and local bound for Leh and Keylong across 13,059 feet Rohtang Pass, has been facing neglect and mismanagement due to waste dumping and haphazard growth.

In a petition filed by Akash Vashishtha, advocate and counsel for the petitioner, it has been alleged that because of the littering and waste dumping, mainly by the tourists, the place has become highly polluted and its impact on the environment could be serious, if goes unchecked.

“The waste dumped by the visitors/tourists at Koksar is the biggest cause of pollution . The pristine streams and water channels therein are also bearing the brunt of the pollution and this can cause an irreparable harm to the extremely fragile ecology of the Koksar area,” he informed the NGT. Koksar, for most parts of the year, experiences below-freezing temperatures, much like Siachen, is extremely rich in Alpine biodiversity.

Intervening in the matter, the National Green Tribunal, on Wednesday, sought responses from the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and the Himachal Pradesh government, while also issuing notices to the CPCB, the Himachal Pradesh Department of Environment, the Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board, the Deputy Commissioner, Lahaul & Spiti and the Village Panchayat, Koksar.

A Bench of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member A Senthil Vel took note of the massive environmental violations arising out of the non-compliance of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in Koksar. However, after the commissioning of the Rohtang Tunnel, one of the world’s longest tunnels at a height of 10,000 ft, Koksar has hardly received much attention from the administration and government agencies.

The Petition filed by ‘Friends’, an environmental organisation contended that despite being an extremely eco-sensitive region, Koksar has been mindlessly converted into a tourist point, over the years, witnessing massive, uncontrolled volume of tourists, every single day. Almost every visitor and tourist visiting Manali heads to Koksar, situated hardly 42 km therefrom. The tourists are being taken and allowed entry beyond the Taxi Stand to Koksar without any checks.

As a consequence, tourists carry eatables in non-biodegradable materials, the petition averred, adding that the littering and waste dumping caused by visitors/tourists to Koksar is polluting the pristine streams and water channels therein and is causing irreparable harm to the extremely fragile ecology of the Koksar area. The said illegal dumping of the wastes is violation of the directions passed by the Supreme Court. The illegal dumping, non-disposal, non-segregation and non-processing of the wastes persists in Koksar, notwithstanding the directions passed by NGT earlier in 2018.

The case will be listed next on April 3, 2024.