Police lodge cases against road building firms for dumping muck in forest areas

Kullu: In a first, the Bilaspur police have registered five separate cases against road building companies, hired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), for illegally and unscientifically dumping muck along the Kiratpur-Manali highway.
Following a complaint filed by the Bilaspur forest department againt Highway Engineer, Total Logistics, and Engineer Associates, cases have been registered against the companies under sections 15 (penalty for contravention of the provisions of the act) and 16 (environmental offences committed by companies) of the Environment Protection Act and Section 277 (polluting public spring or reservoir) of the Indian Penal Code at the Swarghat police station of Bilaspur district.

The forest department, in its complaint, has stated that muck-dumping is being carried out illegally for almost 12 years since 2012, when the road-widening and four-laning of the Kiratpur-Manali had been commenced by the NHAI.
As per the complaint, the companies hired by the NHAI for the four-laning work, dumped muck on the forest lands and nullahs near Gara, Mehla, Dadnal, Jabbal and Sunan villages of Naina Devi sub-division in Bilaspur district. Thereafter, rains led to the muck sliding down the Bhakra dam reservoir and polluting the water body, the complaint states. The move comes following an order issued in June by Punjab and Haryana high court, directing the Bilaspur superintendent of police and deputy commissioner to initiate penal action against all the violators found dumping muck in the Bhakra dam reservoir.
The High Court had also directed the Himachal Pradesh chief secretary to personally monitor the implementation of its order. When the police failed to take action against the violators, the HC in August sought an explanation from the Himachal govt, asking as to why “it is simply collecting fines and not prosecuting the people responsible for illegal muck-dumping”.
The HC orders had come following a petition filed by Madan Sharma, the general secretary of Bilaspur-based Fourlane Visthapit and Prabahavit Samiti (FVPS), an organisation that has been working for the welfare of the people displaced by the highway projects.
According to the petition, filed last year, illegal muck-dumping is a threat to the very existence of Bhakra dam reservoir, a national heritage, and should be immediately stopped.
The petition further states that besides harming the environment and creating water pollution, illegal muck-dumping in the reservoir has also caused a major drop in the fish production, thereby, affecting the livelihood of thousands of fishermen. When contacted, Madan Sharma accused the police of not taking action against big companies hired by the NHAI.
Sharma alleged: “The names of all the big contractors, who are actually responsible for illegal and unscientific dumping of muck in the Bhakra reservoir are missing from the FIRs. The police have registered cases against small companies about which no one has even heard. These small companies were hired by big groups to execute their road-widening work on the highway.”