NGT seeks state's reply on Doon Valley plan change with removed eco safeguards
(NGT) gas directed the state govt and central agencies to respond to a petition alleging that the May 13, 2025, Doon Valley Notification diluted earlier environmental safeguards and transferred full control over development plans to the state.
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The notification amended the original Feb 1, 1989, order, issued under a Supreme Court judgment in Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra & Ors v State of UP & Ors. (1988), which had declared Doon Valley an ecologically sensitive area and mandated special protection.
The plea, filed by Dev Bhoomi Manav Sansadhan Vikas Samiti, said the 2025 amendment gave the state complete authority over the tourism plan, grazing plan, master plan of development, and land use plan without central govt oversight.
"It destroys the very essence of the notification... it allows all the industries to work in the area," the petition said. The 1989 notification required the state to prepare these plans and secure approval from the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC).
The petition also referred to a plea filed in Uttarakhand high court in June 2025 that described the amendment as a move "failing the original motive of the notification of 1989" by enabling unrestricted industrial activity in the ecologically sensitive zone.
NGT also asked the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (UKPCB), MoEFCC and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file replies. The petitioner's counsel argued that the amendment effectively removed the safeguards of the 1989 notification, which ensured that tourism, grazing, and land use were regulated according to centrally approved plans.
As per the amended notification, all such plans will now be prepared and approved by a competent authority within the state govt. The petition claimed this change went against a Sept 6, 2023, Uttarakhand high court order that criticised the state's "policy to commercialise the hills" and observed there was "very little emphasis on actual preservation and protection of the environment." The court had directed the state to prepare tourism and grazing plans for MoEFCC's approval and maintain strict adherence to centrally vetted plans.
The NGT, in its Aug 5, 2025, order, reiterated these concerns and issued notices under environmental statutes, requiring the state, MoEFCC, UKPCB and CPCB to submit their responses by Sept 19, 2025.
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