New Delhi, April 8 The National Green Tribunal has directed the Uttarakhand government to expedite submission of its report on the carrying capacity of the pilgrim tracks to Kedarnath Dham, Hemkund Sahib, Yamunotri and Gomukh.
The bench was hearing an execution application seeking implementation of the tribunal's February 2023 order which directed conducting a study of the carrying capacity of the tracks to these revered pilgrimage sites to prevent large-scale unregulated violation of environmental norms along the routes.
Earlier, the tribunal had directed the state authorities to prepare an action plan, including an assessment of the number of visitors, mules and vehicles, consistent with the carrying capacity of these ecologically sensitive areas.
The state government had informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is preparing the carrying capacity report, which would be submitted by February 2026.
On April 7, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Afroz Ahmad noted that the state had submitted an affidavit dated April 2 regarding some key decisions taken in a meeting chaired by the chief secretary.
It included consultation with stakeholders such as temple committees, hotel associations, transport operators, horse-mule associations and other local groups, besides circulation of the WII report to various departments for obtaining inputs and publication of the report's summary.
The bench noted that the affidavit also sought additional six months for submitting the report.
It said, "Though, in this report (affidavit) a prayer for grant of six months' time on behalf of the state of Uttarakhand to complete the requisite exercise has been made, but we are of the view that six months is not a reasonable time and the process should be expedited."
The tribunal directed the state to file a "proper progress report" at least one week before the next date of hearing, July 21.
