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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has observed that reports of large-scale landslides and environmental degradation in Darjeeling due to unsustainable development and climate change raise serious issues of environmental compliance and governance, warranting judicial intervention.
Taking suo motu cognisance of a news report, the bench of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member A Senthil Vel said the matter reflects possible violations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the EIA Notification, 2006. The court noted that the Darjeeling hills have witnessed repeated natural disasters over the decades, aggravated by climate change, unregulated developmental activities, and weak disaster management mechanisms. "The news item highlights that exceptionally heavy rainfall on October 3, 2025, led to the collapse of the Dudhia Bridge over the Balason River, disrupting highways and causing human casualties and extensive destruction," the Tribunal noted. Referring to the Landslide Atlas of India (2023) by ISRO, the order recorded that Darjeeling is ranked as the 35th most exposed district among 147 landslide-prone areas, while the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in Sikkim last year further demonstrated the region's vulnerability. Observing that the matter raises issues of national significance, particularly given Darjeeling's strategic proximity to the "chicken's neck" corridor, the Tribunal impleaded several authorities as respondents including the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), West Bengal State Pollution Control Board, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. The NGT has directed all respondents to file their responses by affidavit before the Eastern Zonal Bench at least one week before the next hearing. The case has been transferred to the Eastern Zonal Bench, Kolkata, which will take up the matter on December 22, 2025. (ANI)
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