The Supreme Court directed the State of Himachal Pradesh to file comprehensive and verified responses on a wide range of issues concerning its fragile ecology and environmental conditions, in the wake of unprecedented monsoon rains that wreaked havoc across the State earlier this year.

The order was passed on September 23, in Suo Motu case initiated by the Court following the widespread devastation of lives and properties caused by flash floods and landslides.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that the State, and the Himalayan region as a whole, was facing a “serious existential crisis” as unregulated development activities compounded natural vulnerabilities. The Court had earlier remarked that “humans, not nature” were responsible for recurring landslides, coll

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