The Uttarakhand government was severely criticized by the Supreme Court, which took pains to describe the state’s approach to forest fire suppression as “lackadaisical” on Wednesday. On May 17, a bench led by Justice B R Gavai ordered the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to appear in person before it. The bench, which also included Justices Sandeep Mehta and SVN Bhatti, noted that despite the preparation of numerous action plans, no concrete actions are done to put them into action. On May 17, the Supreme Court orders the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand to personally come before it and provide an update on the state’s response to the forest fires.
He was questioned by a bench led by Justice BR Gavai on why members of the Forest Department were sent to election duties in violation of an Election Commission exemption.
The Bench additionally attempted to ascertain the causes of the underutilization of monies managed by the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
The state’s massive vacancy in the forest department was also brought to the attention of the highest court, which declared that the matter needed to be handled.
Concerning the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand, the highest court was considering a plea.
