New Delhi, Jan 5: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notice to the CEO of Sonmarg Development Authority, Director General of Rural Sanitation and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) on the issue of protecting the habitat of Himalayan Brown Bear, which is depleting due to unplanned disposal and treatment of waste in Sonmarg region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The original application was registered suo motu by the green tribunal on the basis of the news item titled "Saving Kashmir Brown Bears is a Race Against Time Wildlife SOS and J&K Wildlife Protection Dept. take challenge" appearing in a media outlet in July 2024.

Saying that proper adjudication of issue required assistance of CEO of Sonmarg Development Authority, Director General of Rural Sanitation, and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), the NGT issued notices to them and asked them to file their responses by way of affidavit at least one week before the next date of hearing.

The matter will be heard next on April 22. The news item related to the depleting habitat of the Himalayan Brown Bear due to the unplanned disposal and treatment of waste in Sonmarg region of Kashmir.

As per the article, Wildlife SOS has initiated a research project with J&K Wildlife Protection Department in studying Himalayan brown bears and identifying factors leading to human-brown bear conflict in Sonmarg.

The news item highlighted that in a study by Wildlife SOS in 2021, 75 per cent of the diet of bears was human-made garbage dumps including plastic, chocolates and organic food waste.

The article claimed that very little is known about the ecology and behavior of bears in India, and hence its population is being severely affected due to various factors like tourism, construction activities, livestock grazing, agriculture, settlements, highways, railroad, tunnelling and poaching.

In its order, the NGT said that the news item raised substantial issues relating to compliance of the environmental norms, especially compliance of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Earlier, it had impleaded Wildlife SOS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), J&K Pollution Control Board, Kupwara’s District Magistrate.

“Issue notice to the above respondents for filing their response at least one week before the next date of hearing,” had ordered a bench headed by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava.

--IANS

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