Shimla: In a matter related to alleged illegal felling of trees on the forest land at Mauza Shivpuri in Nahan tehsil, district Sirmaur, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday has issued notices to the Union Government, the Secretary (Town and Country Planning), Secretary (Forest), Divisional Forest Officer, Nahan, Municipal Council Nahan, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sirmaur and a private respondent namely Uday Prakash.
The Court directed to maintain status quo over the land in question. The Court further directed that no felling of trees shall be allowed over the land in question and the DC, Sirmaur has been directed to ensure the compliance of the court order.
The orders were passed by a Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, in a petition filed by the Nahan Gaurav Vikas Sanstha.
The petitioner has alleged Uday Prakash is carrying out illegal felling of trees on his forest land. The petitioner has alleged that they have written to various authorities but no action has been taken in the matter.
The petitioner has prayed to direct the concerned authorities to restrain Uday from carrying out any kind of non-forest activities and any kind of construction activities over the land in question.
The petitioner has also prayed to constitute an independent committee to inquire into the matter and to take action against the private respondent and Government officials responsible for violation of the Forest Conservation Act and Environment Protection Act.
The matter has been ordered to be listed after four weeks.
