The Uttarakhand High Court issued notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking cancellation of the proposed project for construction of Forest Post in the premises of Ghandiyal Devta Temple at Village Panchayat Nishni, District-Pauri Garhwal.
According to the Petitioner , in the garb of construction of a Watch-Tower in the premises of Ghandiyal Devta Temple, the respondent are raising construction of a two-storeyed building. For this purpose, the respondents have illegally fallen trees in the communal forest area, Van Panchayat-Nishni, which was objected to by the villagers and the Village Panchayat. The petitioner states that on 29.11.2022, the Village Panchayat passed a resolution against the proposed construction of the so called Watch-Tower.
The petitioner’s grievance is also that no such construction could be raised over the land belonging to the main temple of Ghandiyal Devta. The petitioner also states that on account of the representations made to the District Magistrate, Pauri Garhwal on 30.11.2022 and 09.12.2022, the District Magistrate directed the Executing Agency, i.e. respondent NO. 5 to stop the construction.
The petitioner has placed on record some photographs to show deployment of JCB Machines in the on-going construction work. The exposed mud and the trees which have been uprooted prima facie show that there has been uprooting of trees undertaken by the respondents.
D.S. Patni, Senior Counsel, who appears on behalf of the Executing Agency, stated that the concerned Contractor has been challaned for felling of trees. He submits that the said Challan has been personally issued to the Contractor, and felling of trees is not a part of the project. Some photographs of the maps of the Watch-Tower / Forest Post have been placed on record, which show that the same is a two-storeyed building with four room accommodation. On one side of the building, the Watch-Tower has also been raised above the height of the building.
D.S. Patni , further states that the budget for the said project is sanctioned at Rs. 1.08 crore. He submits that the concerned Contractor and the Van Panchayat have not been impleaded as party respondents.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari directed the petitioner to implead Van Panchayat, Village Panchayat Nishni, Pauri Garhwal as well as the Contractor as party-respondents.
“Any work undertaken in relation to the project shall be subject to further orders of the Court. This order, however, will not come in the way of the directions that the District Magistrate may have issued with regard to stoppage of the work. List on 15.02.2023”, the order reads.