The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) principal bench, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, on Monday (July 17) gave 24 hours to the Himachal Pradesh government to demolish Chelsea Hotel in Kasauli, in the Solan district of the state.

The bench rebuked the authorities for not demolishing the hotel, which had come up illegally, disregarding all environment norms. The demolition order had been passed by the bench earlier.

The bench is hearing a bunch of petitions filed by the Society for Preservation of Kasauli and its Environs (SPOKE) against many hotels that have come up completely disregarding legal norms applicable there.

The matter has been listed for July 18.

—India Legal Bureau