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The Supreme Court has observed that the entire Himalayan range is facing severe environmental challenges, with natural disasters being particularly violent this year. The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made these remarks while hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning environmental protection and climate vulnerability in Himachal Pradesh.

Senior Advocate K Parameshwar, serving as amicus curiae, criticized the State government’s report as deficient, noting it merely suggested forming a committee to examine issues without providing concrete measures. He argued the report’s scope was too broad to address comprehensively in a single intervention. The Court acknowledged that environmental degradation extends beyond Himachal Pradesh and indicated plans to expand the PIL’s scope to cover the entire Himalayan region, which has recently experienced severe ecological disturbances.

The suo motu case was initiated in August 2025 by Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan after reports highlighted severe ecological degradation in northern India. The original Bench had directed both State and Union governments to submit detailed action plans for tackling the environmental crisis, emphasizing urgent need for sustainable resource management. They noted that Himachal Pradesh’s situation had deteriorated significantly, with severe ecological imbalance leading to natural calamities that claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed thousands of properties through floods and landslides.

The Court scheduled the matter for September 23 for pronouncement of orders, taking Senior Advocate Parameshwar’s report on record. This development signals judicial recognition of the widespread environmental vulnerability across the Himalayan ecosystem and the need for comprehensive regional approaches to address climate-related disasters and ecological preservation.