SC Tough Words to Uttarakhand Govt on Forest Fires, Seeks Personal Appearance of Chief Secretary

A Supreme Court bench led by Justice B R Gavai slammed the Uttarakhand government on the issue of forest fires in the state. The apex court directed Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to personally appear before it on May 17.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Wednesday minced no words in criticising the Uttarakhand government and also the Centre, in relation with various issues, which remain unaddressed, regarding forest fires and termed the state's approach in controlling forest fires as "lackadaisical". The top court also directed the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand to be present personally before it on May 17.

A bench led by Justice B R Gavai shot a volley of tough questions in connection with funding for the forest department, lack of equipment, and the diversion of forest guards to election duties. The bench, also comprising Justices SVN Bhatti and Sandeep Mehta, observed that though multiple action plans are prepared, no steps are taken for their implementation, and termed state government's defence as mere "excuses".

The Uttarakhand government has been deprecated for its sluggish approach in containing several wildfires and also dealing with damage to over 1,100 hectares caused by several hundred fires reported since November. The Uttarakhand government counsel pointed out before the bench that the state's High Court had passed several directions regarding forest fires and many of them have been implemented but it had to file an appeal as some conditions were not possible to be implemented.

"Some of them….perhaps your lordships need to interfere. For example, the High Court had said in the event of fire going on for 24 hours, the DFO will be automatically suspended. If it goes on for 48 hours, the principal conservator of the forest will be suspended….," said the state's counsel. Justice Mehta said, "Probably, it was only to wake them out of slumber. High court must have realised that."

Justice Gavai told the state's counsel that you do not take matters seriously and reminded that in the previous hearing he made a statement, off-the-cuff, that there were no fires. Counsel clarified that he meant that emergency is over and today there are three fires now in the forest.

When a counsel mentioned about the vacancies in the forest department and also cited the High Court order to fill up vacancies, the bench said this is the single biggest hurdle and what stops the state from making recruitment? The state government explained that the funding is a problem and the state has a big forest cover but funding resources are limited, and pointed out that the Centre has not provided sufficient funds.

A counsel, representing a party in the matter, criticised the state authorities for downplaying the forest fires issue and claimed the few firefighters available often had to douse blazes without proper equipment.

The bench was informed that the state was granted Rs three crore, against a demand of Rs 10 crore, to deal with the fires. Against this backdrop, the bench pulled up the Centre's counsel for not providing sufficient funds to the state government. The bench also criticised the deployment of forest officials for election-related responsibilities and said it is a "sorry state of affairs".

"Why have adequate funds not been given? Why have you put forest employees on poll duty amid fires?" the bench queried. Uttarakhand's five Lok Sabha seats voted in the first phase on April 19.

The state's counsel said that forest officials have joined the court proceedings virtually and added that it is their instruction that our staff is on election duty.

"It appears that you are finding one reason or the other, the Election Commission has already exempted them….are you not aware of exemption granted by the Election Commission?" said Justice Gavai. The forest official replied in affirmative. "Then, why this excuse is being given, why counsel is arguing…", Justice Gavai further queried.

A counsel said, "the principal secretary Uttarakhand government writes on 3.2.2024 to all district magistrates saying ‘every year incidents of forest fires occur in the state during the summers therefore forest department should be exempted (from election duties)'…" The bench told the state's counsel, "many statements are being made, they are either excuses or incorrect…".

"Why are steps not being taken to provide specific equipment for fire fighting in various districts," said the bench. After hearing submissions, the bench directed the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand to be present personally before it on May 17.