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Judgment
This Application has been filed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in a decided matter to permit reconstruction of its old building block which is in the core area of Shimla, by modifying order of this Tribunal dated 16.11.2017 in above O.A. No. 121/2014, prohibiting such constructions, having regard to potential threat to public safety and environment, considering expert Committee recommendations referred to in the said order.
This Tribunal in its order dated 16.11.2017 inter alia considered the report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India that there was no proper regulation of constructions in hill areas of Himachal Pradesh, resulting in earthquakes and other calamities. There was need to comply with provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 on the subject of regulating such construction activities in the interest of public safety. Further consideration by this Tribunal was of recommendations of Expert Committee comprising of different officers from the State of Himachal Pradesh, National Disaster Management Authority, Senior Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, Experts from G.B. Pant Institute, Professors from School of Planning of Architecture, New Delhi etc. who gave reports dated 09.11.2016 and 24.05.2017 making following recommendations:
"53. Relevant excerpts from the Expert Committee Report filed on 24th May, 2017 are reproduced below:
"3.1 Recommendations on Disaster Risk Management From a disaster risk management perspective, Shimla has far exceeded its carrying capacity. Uncontrolled and unsafe construction over decades has created an extremely vulnerable built environment in Shimla. A major earthquake will lead to unprecedented loss of lives, cripple the administration and disrupt all sectors of the economy particularly the tourism sector. Any further increase in the density of the built environment will exponentially increase the risk of damages and losses from disasters. In fact, there is a need to reduce the density of Shimla by taking some bold steps including some "conservative surgery" of the current built environment by removing or retrofitting some of the most vulnerable buildings.
The Committee presents its recommendation in three categories:
i) Stop the creation of new vulnerabilities and risks;
ii) Reduce existing vulnerabilities and risks; and
iii) Increase local emergency response capacity for a major earthquake.
iv) Stop the Creation of New Risks
Recommendation 1: Revise the current building bye-laws to ensure their suitability for the hill environment. The impact of bye-laws on the safety of the overall built environment must be considered. For example, permissible building height that does not take into account slope stability and sub-soil conditions will lead to a large number of unsafebuildings. The building bye-laws should be left substantially unchanged for at least fifteen years. Frequent changes in bye-laws have affected the safety of buildings adversely in Shimla. In conjunction with BIS codes for earthquake safety, the bye-laws should promote the implementation of BIS codes for slope stability and landslide prone areas.
Shimla should draw upon the experience of two other states-Mizoram and Sikkim-in this regard. In April, 2017, the Government of Mizoram notified, the "The Aizawl Municipal Corporation Site Development And Slope Modification Regulations." The Government of Sikkim has prepared "Proposed Amendments in Sikkim Building Construction Regulations 2013", which is yet to be notified. Both these examples show how site development and building construction regulations can be developed to suit the fragile hill environment.
A corollary of this recommendation is that a land use zoning policy related to slope stability and mass movement must be adopted.
Recommendation 2: Slope Stability Norms. In addition, to the recommendation above on development of detailed slope stability and site development regulations, the Committee would like to make following specific recommendation that should be implemented immediately:
The general slope angle for construction should be not more than 350 for slope covered with soil and 450 for rocky slopes.
Most of the slopes in the area are in meta-stable conditions, therefore any change in geological/ geomorphological and environmental conditions will lead to destabilization of the slope and may have consequential affects in terms of landslides. It is strongly suggested that immediate slope intervention in terms of slope stabilization must be adopted, if necessary.
Reports prepared by the HP State department suggest that the safe bearing capacity of the rocks present in the township is 20-25 ton/m2, thus buildings must be designed taking this into consideration.
Construction may be permitted in the adjoining rural areas, however, as most of the slopes in the area covered within veneer of sediments having overburden of the order of <5m, it is suggested that foundations of the building must be footed firmly on the in-situ rocks, and under no conditions these should be allowed in the landslide prone areas, or in areas that are topographically located below the active landslide zone.
Since most of the mass movement in the Shimla township and its surroundings are due to oversaturation of the overburden materials, it is recommended that proper lined drains on the slopes be constructed to drain water away from the slope so that there is minimum ingress of water into the slope.
Recommendation 3: There should be no new retention policy to allow deviation from building bye-laws. Over the last twenty years, retention policies, guidelines, compounding rules have been introduced at least seven times for significant deviation from building bye-laws. This has not only allowed but also encouraged unsafe construction in Shimla. There should be a complete and permanent moratorium on allowing such deviations in the future. There should be no discretionary provisions with regards to application of building bye-laws. New buildings that do not follow that building bye-laws must be demolished at owner's expense and neither the Government nor the legal institution should have any discretion for ratification for any such building.
Recommendation 4: Improve coordination between institutions responsible for land use planning and building bye-laws. Currently building byelaws are developed by Town & Country Planning office (TCPO) and these supersede the building construction rules (if any) of Municipal Corporation. Building byelaws are approved by TCPO and Municipal Corporation has the responsibility for implementation. Coordination between the TCPO and the Municipal Corporation needs to be improved.
Recommendation 5: Streamline the building approval process by introducing an electronic building permit system, to bring about greater transparency. At present, the building approval process has many loopholes. Completion certificates are granted at different steps of construction process compromising the overall safety of the building. This is one of the reasons for proliferation of soft stories in the building stock of Shimla. We recommend structural design of all buildings greater than 2 stories to be peer reviewed. As Municipal Corporation does not have strength and capacity to check every design, it is suggested to establish a panel of practicing engineers for the review of structural designs. It may also be necessary to provide additional capacity (qualified manpower) to the Municipal Corporation. It has been observed that most of the buildings in the town are located in geomorphologically unsafe areas. It is strongly recommended that new construction in these areas should be preceded by a Geological Feasibility Report by a qualified Geologist. For any State Government building, the report must be vetted by Geologists employed by the Central Government.
Recommendation 6: Make certain measures mandatory for building safety. While the provisions of the BIS codes for earthquake safety should be strictly enforced, based on an analysis of the current building practice in Shimla, a few 'non-negotiable' measures should be identified and made mandatory. These may include a combination of the following: sheer walls, no soft stories allowed in lower and intermediate floors without adequate strengthening measures; and minimum standards for detailing in reinforced concrete frame buildings.
Recommendation 7: Identification of no new construction areas. Areas classified as High Sinking Prone area (covering Lakkar Bazar, including Central School extending Auckland Nursery School and extending down below upto Dhobighat below the Idgah Electric Substation) and Sliding area (covering Ladakhi Mohalla, Krishna Nagar, the spurs below the office of the Director of Education and the surrounding areas of Clarks Hotel) must be avoided for any new construction. In order to preserve the ecology of the town and to avoid any further degradation to the heritage area, no new construction in the Heritage Area should be allowed.
Recommendation 8: On Construction in Green Areas. No. new construction of any kind or addition to an existing building should be permitted in the Green Areas. The committee observed during the field visit that a few private vacant plots without any green cover or trees are sandwiched between already constructed buildings. Prima facie it appears unfair that these landowners are not able to construct houses on land that was brought for this purpose before the green area notification came into place. However, given the current (extremely poor) status of implementation of building bye-laws, we do not feel confident that this will not unleash rampant construction activity on these sites leading to proliferation of unsafe buildings and damage to green areas. Also, any new construction will have its environmental footprint in terms of traffic, waste generation, slope destabilization etc. As opposed to allowing construction in the Green Areas, the boundary of Green Areas should be extended to include adjacent public forest land in the vicinity of green areas.
Reduce Existing Risks
Recommendation 9: Undertake a seismic safety analysis and retrofitting of life-line buildings: As described in Sections above, a large part of the building stock in Shimla is extremely unsafe. It is not possible to make this building stock safe overnight. However, the process needs to be started. It is important to prioritize life-line buildings - hospitals, administrative buildings, schools-in this regard, undertake their assessment and identify structural and non-structural measures for improving their safety. Retrofitting of 5% of current building stock every year combined with strict adherence to building codes in all new buildings will ensure that in two decades majority of the building stock in Shimla will be seismically safe. The beginning needs to be made now.
Recommendation 10: Relocating Institutions: Shimla is home to several state and national level institutions. Some of these institutions were established in Shimla decades ago perhaps to take advantage of its favourable climate. Shimla offers few, if any, other locational advantages to these institutions. However, the presence of these institutions burdens the already overwhelmed carrying capacity of Shimla. The Committee recommends that over a period of next ten years, the government gradually relocates all such institutions, that do not have to essentially be in Shimla by virtue of State Government institutions) and the country (in case of Central Government institutions).
Recommendation 11: Decongesting Shimla: Some part of Shimla, most notably Sanjauli and Dhali, are so over-built that in case of an earthquake even extrication of dead bodies and injured person will be problematic. The State government must initiate a scheme that would provide incentives for owners of existing buildings to systematically demolish some of the most vulnerable buildings and relocate to safer areas. This will require establishment of qualified technical teams including structural engineers, geo-technical engineers, town planners and community organizers to undertake site-specific studies and suggest specific measures for decongestion. Shimla has the opportunity to set an example for other cities in the country.
Increase Emergency Response Capacity.
Recommendation 12: Upgrade the capacities of Shimla Fire Service: As described in Situation Analysis above, the current capacities of the Fire Service are severely limited, which leaves a large part of Shima under-served in normal times. This will get worse in a major disaster. Therefore, there is a need to do a systematic analysis of their current capacities and invest in enhancing their preparedness and capacities.
Recommendation 13: Community preparedness: Building on the excellent work of the municipal corporation of Shimla, it is important that preparedness of communities at the Ward Level and below is enhanced. The Ward Level disaster preparedness plans need to be practiced and updated
regularly. Since communities themselves will be first responders, there is a need for providing basic search and rescue training as well as some basic equipment to the community level workers.
Recommendation 14: City level disaster preparedness planning: The city disaster response plan needs to be practiced and updated. This needs to take into account provision of open spaces, emergency water supply , access to emergency services, emergency communication system etc. in different parts. We recommend that city of Shimla hold a similar mock exercise every year.
3.2 Recommendation on Mobility
Widening & maintenance of Shoghi-Mehli Bypass road for movement of traffic bound for upper Shimla must be prioritized.
Widening of all city roads so as to increase their carrying capacity, constructing walls and covered drains so as to increase the effective carriageway for vehicles.
Constructions of new bus stand at Dhalli in place of HRTC workshop.
The private mechanical workshop running along roadsides at panthaghati, Vikasnagar, Sanjauli, Dhalli, Kacchighati & Bhatta Kufar Etc. need to be shifted to the outskirts of Shimla City to prevent congestion on Roads.
Encouraging use of public transport system (buses) by private schools.
Heavy buses of HRTC plying within the city need to be replaced with small buses because of their faster movement
construction of multi-storey parking near H.P. Secretariat, Chakker , D. C. Office, New Shimla Kasampati Commercial complex Panthaghati, Vikasnagar, Mehli, Boileauganj, Totu, Sanjauli, Tara Devi, Hospitals & Schools etc.
Construction of Multi-storey parking complexes near Tata Devi, Tutu, Boileauganj and Dhalli can help tourists and daily commuters to park their vehicles there and visit Shimla by buses. This will help reduce PCUs drastically.
Approval of building maps by M.C./TCP must ensure parking floor/ provision. The same should be strictly enforced.
Making all major as well as other roads free from road-side parking, be it on payment basis or otherwise. This will help in utilizing roads to their optimum capacity and also reduce traffic plus accidents. Idle Parking of vehicles on the roads/ streets should be prohibited.
To remove all condemned vehicles, debris building material from roads.
Shifting of grain mandi & sabzi mandi from Core Area.
Heavy busies of HRTC plying within Shimla City need to be replaced with small sized buses.
To improve important junctions particularly Crossing near Tuti Kandi, Khalini Chhota Shimla Panthaghati, Sanjauli Boileauganj, Totu etc.
Town and Country Planning Department/ Muncipal Corporation has been allowing additional floor as parking floor. It is mostly seen that such floors either were not earmarked or converted to residential floor illegally. Concerned departments must take steps to create/ recover the parking floors in the houses abutting the roads.
To improve and provide pedestrian paths along vehicular roads.
To provide traffic lights, zebra crossings and foot bridges wherever feasible.
Proposals given in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Shimla City prepared under JNNURM should be implemented.
A fast track Public Transport System needs to be put in place at the earliest. While private vehicles should be taxed in various respects public transport should be almost free so as to relieve the city roads from ever increasing number of PCUs.
PSD/MC Shimla must create lay-byes on the main roads for parking of buses/ trucks especially near the bus-stop so that traffic movement does not come to stand still.
The GoHP must take every measure to reduce use of personal vehicles as they severely choke the road and the parking areas. The solution does not be in creating more and more of parking areas, but in reducing the number of personal vehicles for individual's mobility. The GoHP should encourage through appropriate policy, cab aggregators like Ola/ Uber for mobility of people. The cabs have vehicle utilization factor of nearly 50% as against only 5% of personalized vehicles. Therefore, one cab can displace nearly 10 personalized vehicles from the road and parking areas. The GohP can demand the cab aggregator to provide electric vehicles as cabs with adequate number for batter swapping stations. Aggregators' cabs are available within 10 minutes of call and are found to be much cheaper compared to individual transportation. An electric cab will be more cheaper to people.
3.3 Recommendation on Water Supply System:
Recommendation 1: Addressing the Present Status of Water Supply: With regards to addressing the present status of water supply, the committee would like to present three sub-recommendations: a) The first priority should be to improve the current bad situation of water supply in Shimla. Water distribution system is inefficient as reflected in 40-50 % water losses in the for of NRW. Other immediate and short term measures such as reduction of losses of water treatment plants & wager distribution lines, replacing old energy inefficient pumps, mapping and hydraulic modelling of water distribution system, water leak detection and timely repair, improved complaint redressal system, metering of build and commercial users, public awareness for judicious use of water etc. should be implements. b) Water and energy audit should be first completed for operationalizing immediate and short term measures. Water theft and ghost pipes should be identified and users should be severely penalized and their connections should be discontinued. Activities requiring substantial quantity of water such as swimming pool, water sports etc., should be minimized, particularly in summer season. It may be possible to price water supplied to commercial establishments including hotel etc. differently at higher rate. Such resorts/ hotels should be encouraged to install decentralized greywater/ sewage treatment plants and treated greywater / sewage should be used for non-potable purposes: and c) It is necessary to prepare an auto-cad map of entire water distribution system. In addition, pipeline crossing sewer, drains, roads having heavy traffic etc. should be appropriately mapped as they are potential hazard sources.
Recommendation 2: Address Increasing Water Demand: Water demand in Shimla is expected to grow from present 62 MLD to 106 MLD by 2050. Uncontrolled growth coupled with unauthorized constructions, appear to be one of the key reasons even for present water & wastewater related situations. Therefore, the same must be checked strictly and possible stopped immediately, otherwise the proposed interventions/projects involving huge investments will not bear desire results.
Recommendation 3: Water Resources - Catchment area protection: The anthropogenic activities namely, overgrazing collection of fuel, fodder, timber and expansions of orchards in the higher elevations have caused rapid depletion of forests due to which catchment efficiency is compromised. Catchment degradation needs to be immediately stopped. Watershed management practices should be encouraged to improve water availability in the rivers and springs. The anthropogenic activities viz., overgrazing, collection of wood as fuel, fodder, timber and expansions of orchards in the higher elevations must be stopped, which has led to the depletion of forests. The natural forests need to be protected and the forest cover should be increased through plantations of natural species of that area. Degraded land must be rejuvenated scientifically. There is a need to increase the forest cover through plantations of broad leaved species for example,Quercusleucotricchophora, Quercus floribunda, Cornusmacrophylla, C. capitata, Toona, serrata, Aesculusindica, Perseaduthiei, Prunuscerasoides, Fraxinumsicrantha and Alnusnitida and coniferous species such as Cedrusdeodara, Pinuswallichiana and Piceasmithiana in the degraded forests, habitats, agroforestry systems, barren and landslide areas by the local communities in collaboration with Forest Department and relevant R & D organization. Other location specific natural species can also be selected. Nursery of the relevant species at different elevations needs to be developed for ensuring the quality planting material, Bio - engineering techniques using local species including tussock forming grasses for checking the water runoff, soil erosion and siltation in the degraded areas need to be applied. For the conservation of rain water and snow water and checking the soil erosion, trenches may be developed on the slopes. Rain water harvesting should be mandated. The natural forests need to be protected and monitored regularly. Protection of forest areas and plantations from seasonal fires should be ensured. Crate walls and stone walls need to be erected in landslide and flood prone areas to check the soil erosion, landslide and siltation. Education and awareness programmes for the conservation of ecosystems of the water for the inhabitants are urgently required. These practices would help in the restoration of natural habitats, increasing the water recharge, and as a whole in the conservation of ecosystems and environment of the Watershed.
Recommendation 4: It would be essential to declare the catchment areas of the five water sources as eco-sensitive zone under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 with a detail list of negative and positive activities for preservationand rejuvenation of the catchment areas that support the water sources. These catchment areas are actually water sanctuaries.
Recommendation 5: Upgradation of water treatment plants & water distribution system: WTPs are very old & water distribution system is inefficient. WTPs at Shimla are very old. Periodic improvement if any done, has been adhoc in nature. Super-chlorination to initially maintain chlorine up to 2 mg/1 is undertaken in view of reported cases of jaundice recently. However, this may lead to formation of disinfection by products. Hence these DBPs should be monitored and public complaints of poor taste of water should be handled appropriately.
3.4 Recommendations on Liquid Waste Management System
Recommendation 1: Sewage & Storm water management:
Sewer network 7 Sewage collection efficiency: SMC issued 27318 domestic water connections and 4900 commercial water connections whereas the total sewerage connections issued were only 13752. This implies that more than 50% households do not have sewer network connection. The city is under served w.r.t. sewer network & collection. The SMC should lay emphasis on providing more sewer network coverage in SMC region as well as peripheral town areas and to make serious efforts to collect 100% of generated sewage. Site specific solutions for effective collection and treatment of sewage should be sought from organization like CSIR - NEERI. The sewage collection systems are mostly old and a regular inspection & maintenance is a must. As planned under the WB and AMRUT schemes, the same be completely changed / upgraded.
Sewage Treatment:
Only 9.65 MLD sewage has been collected and treated in STPs while total designed capacity of existing 6 STPs is 35.63 MLD. The STPs are grossly underutilized. This also indicates that there is need for enhancing sewage collection efficiency.
It needs to be checked with respect to each STP as to how much sewage is collected and treated. It is possible only some STPs are operational while some other receive sewage. Moreover, it is not clear as to where the uncollected sewage goes and also as to how and where the treated sewage is discharged / managed. The scenario needs to be linked with available health data.
SMC to engage professional agency/institute for the needful technical guidance on site specific technological solutions for improving efficacy / adequacy of sewage
management & treatment.
However during the site visit of one of the STPs, it was observed that the STP is overloaded resulting in adverse impact on treatment of sewage. Therefore, collection and treatment needs to be optimized.
Recommendation 2: Water availability & Storm WaterDrainage & Collection: At present, the maximum available water for Shimla is about 52 MLD against 62 MLD demand. Storm water drainage covering 30% city area exists. However, SMC indicated in SLIP 2017 - 18 documents that no ongoing drainage projects exist in the city. Shimla being hill region receives approximately≥1000mm precipitation annually. If collected, the storm water could be goods supplemental water to the existing water sources. The storm water drainage coverage should be enhanced to capture entire storm water by laying storm water drains in the remaining city areas / adjoining areas. Storm water may be used for agriculture purpose; while adequately treated storm water could be used for different purposes. SMC to engage professional agency/institute for the needful technical guidance on site
specific technological solutions for improving efficacy/adequacy of sewage management & treatment. To overcome the problem of choking of storm water drainage, hydrodynamic separators can be used, separators such as CDS, Downstream Defender, Stormceptor, Vortechsetc can be used according to the need. This type of project needs to be taken up on priority as the city does face serious health risks due to water logging. Carrying capacity of these drains is not sufficient and need through design checking. Catchments of the drains improperly selected with respect to their topography. The drains are constructed for longer distances with much lesser gradients than actually required in order to keep the drains at higher level that the water level in the discharging bodies. Thus, these drains are not able to carry the pak flow of the catchment / water shed.
Recommendation 3: Construction activity versus water 7 sewage infrastructure in Shimla: Continuing with construction activities would put pressure on the existing urban infrastructure by demanding more water supply & increase in wastewater generation. The major concern is un- authorized constructions, for which even sewage collection system is not in place. The officials informed the team that they are making lot of efforts for collection of sewage from such houses and other buildings using honey sucker and other means. While local site conditions such as vulnerable slopes & sensitive areas need to be considered such as prime factors for preventing further construction in Shimla city; more construction implies more demand for urban infrastructure. Shimla as of now does not have adequate water resources and sewer network and sewage collection efficiency. Further construction would lead to unmanageable pressure on Local Urban Body to provide for enhanced water supply & wastewater collection and management facilities. These issues also need to be addressed fully before considering permissions for further construction in Shimla.
Recommendation 4: Sewage collection from areas beyond MC limits and those not easily accessible: The city of Shimla is expanded uncontrolled and there are significant number of houses and other constructions beyond the MC limits. Some of these areas are deprived of sewage collection facilities, which may have adverse impacts on water bodies/streams. The proposed plans suggest provision of sewage collection and treatment in these areas as well, however the same must be implemented adhering to the scheduled and specifications. During the visit officials told the team that some de-centralized systems are also being explored for the places where sewage collection is not feasible. However, most of these localities are those with unauthorized constructions without any adequate access.
Other issues: The committee members also visited a lab, attached to STP and was told that there are other labs for regular monitoring of water and treated wastewater quality. However, these labs need up-gradation as well as regular maintenance of instruments. There is a slaughter house functional at Shimla and the waste and wastewater generated is being treated. Such facilities also need up-gradation to meet future demand. MC officials pointed out the issues of sludge management during the visit of STP. Although the sludge quantity generated is not large, they mentioned that the contractors are not willing to transport or handle the sludge. Sludge digesters can be installed to generate gas fuel which can be used including that for heating of digester in winter. There are advanced options available for sludge drying and utilization and the same should be explored during the proposed projects.
a. Recommendations on Solid Waste Management Shimla city looked visible clean as no garbage was seen littered during the visit showing the efforts of MC and good inspection of various rules. Door-to-Door collection together with User Fee scheme is functioning very well. Though no polybag was found littered anywhere on the roads or hill slopes, given that waste is not segregated at source as required under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 into three streams, viz. (i) Bio-degradable Wet Waste; (ii) Recyclables and Non Bio-degradables; and (iii) Domestic Hazardous waste, many recyclables waste get soiled rendering them unfit for recycling. Sanitary napkins and diapers are not packed in different pouches for incineration. Segregation of domestic hazardous waste at source would eliminate toxic elements and heavy metals from the waste which would result in good quality compost.
Decentralized treatment of wet waste will reduce transportation cost and thus the carbon foot prints, air pollution and less diesel smell as well. As per the rule, there should be no landfills in the hilly areas and old landfills need to b e capped scientifically.
NEERI in its report recommended that "The paper and plastic content of the waste at all the dumping sites is high. Due to comparatively higher moisture content of the solid wastes at all the four disposal sites, the wastes may not be suitable for its use as a material for refused derived fuel (RDF)'. Still the Govt. of HP decided to go ahead with W2E plant which is making RDF first. The viability of the palnt is doubtful. NEERI further recommended that 'the groundwater and surface water quality may get highly polluted in near future. Hence, a scientific way of waste management and handling; and engineered waste processing and disposal would required to be carried out on priority.
Recommendations:
Following are the recommendations of improving solid waste management in Shimla city-
i. Shimla should start waste segregation at source, into three streams as given above, as per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 immediately. They should implement the waste hierarchy and treatment line given in the rules. This would reduce the cost of waste management for Shimla city tremendously.
ii. The parameters such as carbon content, moisture content, C/N ratio and NPK content in the MSW samples indicated that MSW is more suitable for bioprocessing. Therefore, Shimla should recover the energy content of its wet/bio degradable waste through compositing/bio-methanation which would be at a very low cost and shall work out to be cheaper than any other technology. Lessons from past composting projects should be learnt and improved composting should be encouraged. Segregation of waste at source would improve the quality of compost as heavy metals present in MSW would be eliminated.
iii. Decentralized composting/bio-methanation (energy recovery) should be practiced, at least at all commercial establishments, hotels, vegetable and meat markets. Bio-gas may be used for street/park lights or for cooking in kitchen.
iv. Expert guidance and proper technology should be taken by MC for composting/ bio-methanation processes. Proper training to the operating staff should be imparted.
v. Public awareness on reduce, reuse, recycle, segregation and house hold composting should be made a regular feature of solid management programme in Shimla and Shimla Planning area.
vi. Health and safety of the sanitation workers should be improved and they should be insisted to wear uniforms, gloves and Gum boots etc. while collecting waste.
vii. All horticulture waste, garden waste, agriculture waste, green leaves should be collected separately and processed in decentralized manner into manure.
viii. Bio-degradable waste and wet waste should be prohibited for land filling in the city.
ix. Landfill site should not be created in the hilly areas in accordance with the SWM Rules.
x. Only the inert residual waste should be disposed of in sanitary landfill (SLF). This would increase the life of SLF and prompt recycling of the other components of waste.
xi. Storage of waste in open must be stopped as it may cause contamination of both, the ground water and surface water sources due to run off from hills during precipitation. Heavy rainfall may even carry the waste with the flood water. Water pollution may create health hazards to the residents and the tourists as well.
xii. Land filling Tax may be started in Shimla city or Landfill charges may be levied to restrict land filling of waste.
xiii. Environmental Clearance for W2E plant may be taken before commissioning to avoid any violation.
xiv. Chaar from W2E should be utilised for brick making or road making or should be disposed of at the secured landfill.
xv. The dry or non-biodegradable waste such as paper/ plastic, rubber, metal, glass etc. should be sent to the authorized recyclers; for its use in manufacturing.
xvi. The rural areas must have such set up on self-sustaining basis. It could be on the lines of the Society functioning within M.C. Shimla.
xvii. SADAs and the Gram Panchayats should jointly work together to address this issue.
xviii. Abandoned Landfill should be either mined and waste may sent to the W2E plant or should be capped scientifically, as per the SWM, 2016 Rules and guidelines of CPCB&MUD. This is supported by the study of NEERI also that reports that the groundwater quality and surface water quality may get highly polluted in near future. Hence, a scientific way of waste management and handling; and engineered waste processing and disposal should be carried out on priority.
xix. C&D waste recycling plant should be set up as soon as possible.
xx. Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 should be implemented so that plastic waste goes for recycling rather than to W2E plant.
xxi. State Pollution Control Board should enforce Bio-Medical Waste Rules, 2016 immediately and organize training for HCFs for segregation of their waste and proper disposal. They should monitor HCFs regularly and more vigorously. For monitoring, one outside expert from a good institution should be involved.
xxii. It needs to be ensured that no Bio-Medical waste gets mixed up with the solid waste, for this random checks should be carried out by both SPCB and MC by opening the bags at the HCFs itself.
xxiii. The subject of solid waste management should be included in the curriculum for schools.
CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION
The Committee made an in-depth analysis of the carrying capacity of Shimla city and Shimla Planning Area (SPA), the trend of growth of population, construction, vehicular population and ecological impacts of solid waste, sewage, destruction of forest, water supply, etc, on the ecology. The Committee studied the carrying capacity in greater detail with reference to disaster risk, mobility, water supply, liquid and solid waste management and forest management.
The Committee analysed the principal natural hazards including the seismic hazard (possibility of earthquakes that will produce peak ground acceleration of ground shaking of destructive potential) and landslide hazard. The Committee took into account other factors such as the geomorphological conditions (nature of subsoil and rocks) and the effects of climate change and the resulting patterns of intense rainfall that may exacerbate the effects of these two principal hazards. The analysis of the principle hazards was complemented with the analysis of exposure (how many buildings of what type) and vulnerabilities (strength of the buildings) based on secondary data sourced from Shimla's Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (2015) as well as field visits. This gave a picture of the damage and loss potential of the two principal hazards. An analysis of the local level emergency response capacity helped understand the challenges that would arise should a major disaster occur in Shimla.
Based on secondary source analysis as well as field visits, the committee analyses issues around: current situation vis-à-vis availability of water, measures required for ensuring adequate and sustainable supply of water in view of the growing demand; issues around vehicular population and sustainable solutions in view of limited infrastructure for ensuring efficient mobility without environmental side-effects; disposal of solid waste and sewage; and sustainable management of forests.
The Committee unanimously came to several conclusions, which are detailed in the recommendations presented in Chapter 3. However, it was considered necessary to highlight certain issues given their far-reaching implication. They are presented below.
The entire Himalayan belt, including Shimla and its surrounding area, falls in Earthquake Zone-IV and V. Shimla can be affected by not only earthquakes occurring in its vicinity, but also the ones that take place in other parts of the State. Earthquake of high magnitude of over 6 on the Richter scale are entirely possible in this region. It can cause severe ground shaking with peak ground acceleration (PGA) up to 4.0m/s in and around Shimla. Given the volume and quality of current building stock, this will have huge destructive potential. Given the poor quality of constructions ignoring the underlying geological settings, proneness to earthquake and landslide, as discussed in detail in situation analysis (Chapter-2), most of the buildings will collapse in an earthquake causing PGA of 4.0 m/s and above. The situation will get compounded on account of pounding and cascading effect, which may significantly increase loss of lives, which would be difficult to estimate.
The hazard risk gets further aggravated considering most of Shimla and SPA are prone to landslides, which, it is observed in the recent past, get accentuated due to climate change induced intense rainfall and unscientific cuttings of slopes for construction purpose. The Committee found that most of the buildings are constructed over land with slopes exceeding 45 degrees, and in certain cases the buildings are constructed on the slopes exceeding 70 degrees. Such constructions require huge cutting of the contour that makes the land susceptible to landslides. Subsidence of land in a number of areas and landslides are becoming frequent.
It is evident that Shimla and surrounding area seem to face great risk of life and property in case of earthquake and big landslide. There is an urgent need to decongest Shimla and SPA- particularly areas like Sanjhauli, Dhali, Tutu, Lower Lakkar Bazar. All the institutions, including the Defense establishments, which are not required to operate from Shimla, must be relocated to the plains or other areas. Secondly, all the buildings, which have been constructed ignoring the seismic sensitivity and load bearing capacity and those which are constructed very close, must be identified by a group of experts and the Government through the process of incentives and disincentives within a time-frame, say 5-10 years, and if required through law, ensure demolition, relocation and reconstruction. For this purpose, detailed new construction guidelines, suitable for the hill environment of Shimla, should be developed with the help of experts in this field. These guidelines should take into account the earthquake and landslide risk, load-bearing capacity of different localities, slope angle, structural design of the buildings and the quality of construction including their foundations (in accordance with applicable BIS codes) that can withstand a probable earthquake. The Government or any institution should have no discretion to regularize any new building which violates the above guidelines. Such buildings should automatically be demolished and there should not be any legal relief to such construction.
At the current level of population 2.34 lakhs in the SPA, it was reported by the authority that people get water supply for about 990 minutes every day, which reduces to 45 minutes during summer. However, meeting with people gave the Committee to understand that in most of the areas, water supply is once in 3-4 days only. This means that the water supply is not adequate to be able to sustain provide even decent quantity even to the current level of population, leave alone the projected population and water demand by 2020 or 2030. Shimla as of now does not have adequate water resources and sewer network and sewage collection efficiency. Further construction would lead to unmanageable pressure on Local Urban Body to provide for enhanced water supply & wastewater collection and management facilities. These issues also need to be addressed fully before considering permissions for further construction in Shimla.
The Committee studied the sources of water supply and also studied their catchment areas. It is observed that the catchment areas of these water sources, which were full of natural vegetation that would absorb rainwater and sustain the streams on which the water sources have been developed, round the year. The Committee observed that unfortunately the catchment areas have been denuded to a certain extent and are giving way to apple orchards and other anthropogenic activities. Apple orchards, denudation of natural forest and soil erosion, all the three together would result in lower availability of water in the streams, particularly during the lean season. If water supply to the population in SPA is to be sustained at a decent level, the catchment area of the water sources will be required to be declared as eco-sensitive zone under the Environment Protection Act, with the detailed dos and don'ts, some of which are: no further conversion of forest to apple orchard, increasing plantation of trees with native species, construction of trenches at regular intervals and extensive mandatory water harvesting structures in the orchard areas, so that sub-soil system absorbs more rain water to sustain the streams. The already degraded catchment areas should also be rejuvenated on priority to make those water resources sustainable.
The Committee recommends several actions as short term measures to improve the current water supply situation, including reduction of losses at water treatment plants & water distribution lines, mapping and hydraulic modelling of water distribution, water leak detection and timely repair, metering of bulk and commercial users, public awareness for judicious use of water etc.
Water and energy audit should be quickly completed for operationalizing immediate and short term measures. Activities requiring substantial quantity of water such as swimming pool, water sports etc., should be minimized, particularly in summer season. It may be possible to price water supplied to commercial establishments including hotels etc. differently at higher rate. Such resorts/hotels should be encouraged to install decentralized greywater/ sewage treatment plants and treated greywater/ sewage should be used for non-potable purposed. In general re-use of treated water for the non-potable purposes within a time-frame will make available huge quantity of fresh water. This would significantly ease water situation in Shimla and SPA.
Another area, the Committee would like to highlight is transport and mobility. Significant increase in vehicular population in Shimla town and SPA, together with increase in movement of big vehicles carrying goods and passenger, has reached a level, which the current infrastructure is just unable to cope with. In most places, it is not possible to widen the roads. Idle parking and a large number of garages choke the roads. The Government will have to discourage purchase of new vehicles and do well to incentivize Ola/Uber type of cab aggregators for mobility of people. The utilization factors of personal cars is less than 5%, as observed by the Committee; whereas Ola/Uber cabs will have more than 50% utilization. This means that one Ola/Uber cab can displace 10 private cars from the road and free the parking areas. The Government should further encourage Ola/Uber type of companies to provide electric vehicles to reduce pollution. The technology available in the country today would enable such arrangements to do a viable business. The Government will have to significantly increase the parking charges and ensure their enforcement by installing CCTV's at important locations, to discourage parking of private vehicles.
Evidently, the carrying capacity of Shimla has been far exceeded. There is an urgent need to decongest the town and SPA by shifting certain institutions and establishments and to ensure that further population and construction growth are seriously discouraged. The authorities will have to take certain hard decisions, in the right earnest. Any further delay could be only at its peril.
In terms of the vulnerability of the built environment to earthquakes and landslides, other hill towns of the country, particularly in the Himalayan belt, are facing
similar issues. They are also facing similar environmental challenges. Shimla has the opportunity to set an example as to how our hill cities can be made disaster resilient and environmentally sustainable.
The Committee has deliberately decided not to make any recommendation for construction in the 17 Green Belt notified by the GoHP in August/December, 2000 as the earlier Committee has also recommended no construction which has been noted by the Hon'ble NGT in its order Dt 28.2.2017. This Committee has strongly recommended to decongest and depopulate Shimla.
Besides submitting the detailed report and its recommendations, the Committee also relied upon and made the following integral part of the comprehensive report:
(a). Natural Hazards exposure vulnerability and disaster risk in Shimla prepared by National Disaster Management Authority.
(b). Engineering Geological Contribution prepared by Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun.
(c). Water supply system in Shimla, current status, future plans and recommendations including sewage generation, collection and disposal was prepared by G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Himachal Pradesh Unit.
(d). Forest, bio-diversity, water supply systems, watershed management, ecosystem services, climate change, impact of climate change and water sanctuaries in Shimla prepared by the same Institute.
(e). Carrying capacity based, spatial zoning.
These reports are integral part of the main report, which also includes the respective recommendations finalised upon due to deliberation of the High Powered Committee."
In view of above, the Tribunal noted the vulnerable areas where there was potential for disasters by constructions as follows:-
"62. There are two prominent subsidence/sinking zones in the area, particularly, Ridge, Grand Hotel, Lakkar Bazar, Central School, Auckland Nursery School, Dhobighat, Ladakhi Mohalla and surrounding areas of Hotel Clark. They have been identified as high sinking zones and any further addition of building load could be disastrous. There are continuous incidences of landslides and subsidence in these two zones. The reports suggest the problem of landslides is a result of mass movement in the area. These phenomena occur either during construction or due to oversaturation of the slope, either by increased rainfall activity or concentrated household disposal. This indicates that most of the slopes in the town are in meta-stable conditions and any change in natural condition, particularly, from slope cutting will destabilize the slope and that would results into landslides. Over urbanization, unplanned and unregulated construction and growth with frequent changes in municipal boundaries and building byelaws has adversely affected the built environment and ecology of the city. Even the residential areas are seen to be extensively commercially used. Mall Road, Lower Bazar, Krishna Nagar, Summer Hill and Totu are highly commercialized where upto 50% of the total buildings are used for commercial purposes out of which only 9% is used for residential purpose. As a result, agricultural area has shrunk from 21% to 6% of Shimla Planning Area. It means immense construction activity will take place in Shimla with further reduction of open areas used as agricultural/green land. Vulnerability of environment of Shimla is very high. In Shimla most of the RC frame construction is inadequately designed and hardly ever supervised by a qualified person. A visual survey of ongoing construction sites revealed that detailing of reinforcement was always incorrect. Some of the most prevalent and visible causes of physical vulnerability include presence of soft story, irregular plan, pounding effect in buildings made together, lack of frame action in RC frame structure, incorrect detailing of reinforcement including stirrups, short column effect on building built on slope and inadequate foundation design leading to differential settlement of foundation. These comments of the Committee are based upon detailed analysis carried out. Lack of a stable techno-legal regime is one of the important causes of disaster risk in Shimla. Unstudied frequent amendment of byelaws made it difficult, if not impossible, to manage the growth of buildings made in the city. Some of the buildings are built on 70o-75o slope and are covered with average 4 to 5 storeyed buildings and approximately 90% Shimla is built on 45o-60o slope. The debris from slope is dumped in the valley or near water channels, obstructing the natural drainage, which damages the environment and creates possibility for flooding. The buildings to the extent of 7-8 storeys have been permitted. Most of the buildings are taller than the prescribed building heights and similar is the status with regard to floor area ratio. Set back regulations, approval of structural designs, site checks, retention policies/compounding rules and ground coverage are the other relevant factors leading to destabilization of hills and natural assets in Shimla. A hazard risk and vulnerability assessment study of Shimla, undertaken by TRAU Leading Edge with support of UNDP, assessed the vulnerability of building stock of the city. In a severe earthquake, 39% of the buildings will suffer total collapse or severe damage. Due to such earthquake, estimated number of casualties was calculated to 20,446. However, this does not take into account the cascading effect of collapsed buildings on adjoining building, which will further escalate the losses. One of the most important problems of Shimla city is mobility. More than 1,00,000 vehicles routinely cross various traffic points daily with the municipal corporation areas and there are nearly 30,000 vehicles in Shimla during the apple season. The peak hour count is 60,000 vehicles approximately. 6% of the road network has road width less than 5mtr while 73% of the road network has road width from 5 mtr to 10 mtr. There are more than 22 bottleneck points in the city. There is acute shortage of parking space. The water supply system in Shimla is unstable and unsound. We have already noticed that water supply is irregular and sometimes even once in 3-4 days. The quantum of non-revenue water is estimated at 40% to 50%. It is also on record before the Tribunal that water supply in Shimla is around 60-90 minutes every day during non-lean period and for around 45 minutes on alternative days during the lean period. Existing shortfall is about 7 MLD which increases to 17 MLD during summer for various other factors, not even 70% of city is covered by water supply. There is a plan to introduce certain infrastructure and services, as recorded by the Committee and a new department is created for augmenting and improving water supply system but there appears to be nothing for resolving the issue in the long term. Sewage collection and disposal is a matter of great concern. There is a shortage of public toilets and urinals. The septage collected from households that are not connected to sewer systems is indiscriminately disposed of in low lying areas, which is a completely unacceptable practice. The existing service levels and its efficiency for collection, disposal of sewage and network services are far from satisfactory (65% coverage of sewerage network, 35% efficiency of collection of sewage and 25% less in sewage treatment efficiency).
The STP plants are underutilized as the sewage does not reach these plants. There have been repeated incidents of mixing up of sewage with the potable water that has caused serious public health hazards. It is on record of this case, as well as other cases pending before the Tribunal that similar incidents also occurred in 2007-08, 2010-11, 2013 and 2015-16 when more than 20 people died and 1500 suffered from serious hepatitis of various kinds.
Solid Waste Management is another serious problem persisting in the entire State of Himachal Pradesh, more particularly, in Shimla. Municipal Corporation of Shimla exercises jurisdiction over 25 wards and the city of Shimla is generating garbage and waste which is increasing day by day. 87 MTD of waste was being generated per day in 2006, which became 116 MTD in 2016 and is estimated to rise to 137 MTD by 2021. Waste generation increases by 30% in peak season. There is complete failure of segregation, transportation and disposal of the waste. There are no proper landfill sites, no segregation is being carried out in Shimla at source or otherwise. Under the orders of the Tribunal, some waste was directed to be sent to Chandigarh because there was no treatment plant in the State of HP, which could treat this quantity of waste. Now under the directions of the Tribunal, M/s. Elephant Energy Pvt. Ltd. was awarded the work for setting up a Waste to Energy Plant near Shimla. However, the said plant has not commenced its operation and presently it is producing Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) with the capacity of 70 TPD. The plant proposes to use gasification technology at Bhariyal for energy generation. There is a proposal to setup a biogas plant and also to recycle the C&D Waste and plastic waste by segregation.
Forests in Shimla were subjected to detailed analysis by the Committee for Forest Management. There are large areas of natural forests. It adds to the value of Shimla by improving air and water supply besides maintaining its quality. The city is dominated by Cedrus deodara (Deodar), Quercus leucotrichophora (Ban Oak), Pinus roxburghii (Chir Pine) and Rhododendron arboretum (Burash) forests. Besides it has shrubs, Berberis lycium and other species within the municipal limits of Shimla. The forests of designated 17 green belt areas help in regulating the environment of the city. As per the revenue records the green belt of Shimla Planning Area cover 414 ha, out of which 78% area is either under 'forests' or 'open area' and the remaining 22% is built-up area. About 42% of the total green area is under forest cover and 36% is open area occupied by shrubs, bushes and grasslands etc. From the representations placed on record as well as the other cases pending before the Tribunal, it is clear that there has been serious destruction of forests. There are cases of enormous illegal and unauthorized tree felling. The authorities are even giving sanctions for cutting of trees without complying with the fundamental requirements of compensatory afforestation. It has to be a condition precedent to diversion of any area which requires felling of trees and the activity must be performed simultaneously with any development activity. Deposit of money with the Forest Department is not compensatory afforestation. The trees, forest must be permitted to grow along with the development and it should not be a performance left in abeyance.
We do find merit in the submissions made by the applicant. Even if there cannot to be an absolute ban as suggested by the applicant on construction activity in the city of Shimla and its different identified areas, in some of the areas construction activity must be totally prohibited while in the others it should be strictly regulated if the city of Shimla has to be protected from natural and manmade disasters in the coming times. If unplanned, health hazard and unsustainable development continues it will be absolute violations to the principle of intergenerational equity. It is also correct that same areas have repeatedly seen and borne massive environmental disasters due to large scale landslides that have disrupted the arterial Cart road for months. There was a major landslide in Dhalli area that ruptured the Tatukandi-Dhalli Byepass road in September, 2017. The construction outside the core area and particularly, in areas where decongestion is necessary, fresh construction cannot be allowed. Construction in unsafe areas and even in the newly added areas has to be considered with seriousness for its consequential results. The rampant construction must stop. The techno-legal regime should not be mere eyewash but should have effective control and strict penal consequences. It is on record that all unauthorized and illegal constructions are regularized or at least attempted to be regularized without realizing their impact on environment, ecology and sustainability. Complete scarcity of natural and supporting resources is the last consideration that prevails with the authorities. The byelaws are primarily intended to regularize rampant, unauthorized and excessive construction in contrast to compliance of the byelaws in their true spirit and substance and enforcing the required actions contemplated under Section 3a of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1977 (for short, the TCP Act). Regularization of unauthorized construction on public land and particularly, the forest area or the green areas would not only frustrate the Forest Act and other laws but would also encourage discrimination between people who are law abiding and those who are flouting causing serious environmental degradation. The cutting of hill tops should be stopped or at least very sternly regulated and allowed only after proper impact analysis and in rare situations. There must be appropriate determination of zones in that area and only permissible activities should be allowed and rampant construction should be debarred. The vehicular congestion and the population resulting therefrom have to be regulated. The forests and green area have to be protected. The open patches in the forest areas cannot be viewed as land open for construction that would be defeating the entire law relating to the forests and environment."
The Tribunal accordingly after considering the relevant statutory provisions and applying the "Precautionary" principle, directed as follows:
"112. Thus, we pass the following directions and order:
I. We hold and declare that the facts and circumstances of the present case, as afore-recorded, clearly demonstrate failure on the part of the State Government, its instrumentalities and local authorities to discharge their constitutional obligations under Article 48A, statutory duties under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, under the TCP Act and Municipal byelaws. It is this failure that has exposed the Shimla Planning Area to such vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters. In the event, if such unplanned and indiscriminate development is permitted there will be irreparable loss and damage to the environment, ecology and natural resources on the one hand and inevitable disaster on the other.
II. We hereby prohibit new construction of any kind, i.e. residential, institutional and commercial to be permitted henceforth in any part of the Core and Green/Forest area as defined under the various Notifications issued under the Interim Development Plan as well, by the State Government.
III. Beyond the Core, Green/Forest area and the areas falling under the authorities of the Shimla Planning Area, the construction may be permitted strictly in accordance with the provisions of the TCP Act, Development Plan and the Municipal laws in force. Even in these areas, construction will not be permitted beyond two storeys plus attic floor. However, restricted to these areas, if any construction, particularly public utilities (the buildings like hospitals, schools and offices of essential services but would definitely not include commercial, private builders and any such allied buildings) are proposed to be constructed beyond two storeys plus attic floor then the plans for approval or obtaining NOC shall be submitted to the concerned authorities having jurisdiction over the area in question. It would be sanctioned only after the same have been approved and adequate precautionary and preventive measures have been provided by the special committee constituted under this judgement along with the Supervisory Committee.
IV. Wherever the old residential structures exist in the Core area or the Green/Forest area which are found to be unfit for human habitation and are in a seriously dilapidated condition, the Implementation Committee constituted under this judgement may permit construction/reconstruction of the building but strictly within the legally permissible structural limits of the old building and for the same/permissible legal use. The Competent Authority shall sanction the plans and/or approve the same only to that extent and no more; under any circumstances such plans must not be beyond two storeys and an attic floor and only for residential purpose.
V. There shall be no regularization of unauthorised constructions within the Core area and Green/Forest areas which have been raised without obtaining any prior permission/sanction of plans in entirety. It shall also include constructions in complete violation of the sanctioned plan or where additional floors have been constructed in contradiction to the concept of deviation or variation, to constructed areas for which the plans were sanctioned. In such cases, the authorities shall take action in accordance with law and direct demolition of such property.
VI. The State of HP, its departments and authorities are hereby restrained from permitting cutting of hills/forests without prior submission of application for sanctioning of plans for construction. If any person is found to be damaging Forest/Green area and/or cutting of hills, without grant of permission of the concerned authorities and without construction plan being sanctioned, he/she would be liable to pay environmental compensation as may be determined by the concerned department but not less than Rs. 5 Lakhs for each violation. The compensation, if not paid, shall be recovered as land revenue by the State and will be utilized by the State for restorative purposes and/or for afforestation of the Shimla Planning Area.
VII. Wherever unauthorised structures, for which no plans were submitted for approval or NOC for development and such areas falls beyond the Core and Green/Forest area the same shall not be regularised or compounded. However, where plans have been submitted and the construction work with deviation has been completed prior to this judgement and the authorities consider it appropriate to regularise such structure beyond the sanctioned plan, in that event the same shall not be compounded or regularised without payment of environmental compensation at the rate of Rs. 5,000/- per sq. ft. in case of exclusive self-occupied residential construction and Rs. 10,000/- per sq. ft. in commercial or residential-cum-commercial buildings. The amount so received should be utilised for sustainable development and for providing of facilities in the city of Shimla, as directed under this judgement.
VIII. We direct the State Government and/or its instrumentalities and more, particularly, the Town and Country Planning Department to finalize the Development Plan within three months from the date of pronouncement of this judgement without default. The Development Plan so finalized shall be notified in accordance with law. While finalizing the development plan, the directions and precautions stated in this judgement shall be duly considered by the concerned departments and the State of Himachal Pradesh.
IX. The Registrar or any other authority vested with the responsibility of registering documents of transfer or division of land shall not do so except with the prior NOC from the Town and Country Planning Department, in accordance with the provisions of the law afore-referred. The Department of Science and Technology, Town and Country Planning, Municipal Corporation, Urban Development, Forest, Revenue and Registrar for documents shall depute their senior officers within a period of three weeks from today, who shall prepare Memorandum of Practice which shall be followed by all the departments in regard to cutting of hills, any activity in the forest areas, division and transfer of land, development activity providing of infrastructure and other facilities in the Shimla Planning Area. This memorandum shall provide due coordination and cooperation between the various wings of the State to ensure sustainable development of the entire Shimla Planning Area. This Memorandum will be approved by the Supervisory Committee appointed under this judgement.
X. The State of Himachal Pradesh, its instrumentalities, departments and local authorities shall prepare an Action Plan for providing appropriate infrastructure, water and sewerage facilities, roads, greenery, other public amenities and retrofitting of existing structures (especially public utilities) particularly with the earthquake resistance structures in the areas which have been indiscriminately developed and lacks such facilities like Sanjauli and other congested areas of Shimla including Lower Bazar etc. The Action Plan shall be prepared within a period of three months from the date of pronouncement of this judgement providing retrofitting to public or private buildings against earthquake effect and be implemented in accordance with the State Policy.
XI. No construction of any kind, i.e. residential, commercial, institutional or otherwise would be permitted within three meters from the end of the road/national highways in the entire State of HP, particularly, in Shimla Planning Area. We direct that all the concerned authorities shall duly enforce the valley view regulation and direct the same.
XII. Within the existing Zoning policy, additional layers of slope, geology, soil type and load bearing capacity of soil should be superimposed on different zones to regulate any construction or development works. The height of constructions should be regulated by such safe bearing load capacity of the underlying rock formations rather than uniformly following 18 mtr. Of height requirement. The Interim Development Plan permits 18 mtr. of height requirement, which again has no rational and is not backed by any study. Thus the same will not be implemented till compliance with the other directions.
XIII. Presently slope of 45° for construction is uniformly applicable in all zones and areas irrespective of soil and geology. This can create vulnerability during seismic events and soil saturation/soil liquefaction. Slope in soft rocky areas with over burden soil should be reduced to 35° while retaining 45° for areas with hard sub surface stratum. The concerned department shall ensure that no construction activity takes place where the slope is more than 450/35° in any case, which should be prior to cutting of the hills.
XIV. Rain water harvesting should be a mandatory requirement for all the building plans. Even the old buildings where such RWH structures are not present must be provided with RWH systems within three months. This direction must be complied with particularly in relation to public buildings, schools, colleges, universities, hotels, hostels, etc.
XV. All the storm water available as surface run off in all the concretised areas like roads, lanes, platforms and market places should be diverted in such a manner to ensure that such run off does not go in to over burden or flow along hills and depressions, thereby creating over saturation and affecting soil and slope stability. Options be evaluated for storage and use of such water after proper treatment/disinfection.
XVI. There should be no institutional construction in the Core area and the institutions located in the Core area which requires a further demand for space or facilities should be shifted to other district or to the areas falling under the jurisdiction of SADA.
XVII. We appoint the following Committee to be termed as 'High Powered Expert Committee', which shall be responsible for carrying out the specific directions under this judgement and provide NOC or other necessary permissions to the stakeholders, whether State or private parties. This Committee shall also ensure that there is no further degradation of environment, ecology and natural resources of the Shimla Planning Area. If anything comes to the notice of this Committee, they would be at liberty to move to the Tribunal for appropriate directions. The High Powered Expert Committee shall consist of two components. First would be the Supervisory Committee while the later would be Implementation Committee. The Members of these committees shall be as follows:
I. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE:
i) Secretary, Urban Development, State of Himachal Pradesh.
ii) Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun.
iii) Director, Town and Country Planning, Govt. of H.P. shall be the Member Secretary of the Committee
iv) Professor from relevant field nominated by the Director, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.
v) Nominated officer from NDMA not below the rank or equivalent to the Joint Secretary or above.
vi) Member Secretary, H.P. Pollution Control Board.
II. IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE:
Chairman: Director, Deptt. Town and Country Planning, Govt. of H.P.
MEMBERS:
i) State Town Planner, Govt. of H.P.
ii) Director, Department of Urban Development, Govt. of H.P.
iii) Municipal Commissioner, Shimla.
iv) Nominated officer from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun not below the rank or equivalent to Director in Govt. of India.
v) Nominated officer from NDMA not below the rank or equivalent to Director in Govt. Of India.
vi) State Geologist, Department of Industries, Govt. of H.P.
vii) Director, Department of Environment, Science & Technology, H.P.
viii) Architect in-Chief, H.P. PWD.
ix) Member Secretary, H.P. Pollution Control Board.
The Supervisory Committee shall meet atleast once in three months, while the Implementation Committee shall meet every month in the first week to perform the functions and duties assigned to them under this judgement, without default.
XVIII. This High Powered Expert Committee shall carry out a survey of lifeline structures and identify those structures that are vulnerable to damage due to seismic events and other natural hazards. Also it will identify and delineate passages for providing emergency services, for medical assistance and relief works, so that enough openings are created for ingress and egress of fire tenders and emergency medical vehicles/ ambulances.
XIX. This Committee shall also advise the State of HP for regulating traffic on all roads, declaring prohibited zones for vehicular traffic, preventing and controlling pollution and for management of Municipal Solid Waste in the Shimla Planning Area. The recommendation of this Committee should be carried out by the State Government and all its departments as well as local authorities, without default and delay.
XX. The Committee shall also deal with the recommendations in relation to zoning policy and would keep in mind the factor of vulnerability risk assessment. The Committee may also make recommendations for permitting construction of buildings of exceptional nature like hospital, fire-brigade or public utility services but strictly in consonance with the laws in force.
XXI. There should be a complete ban on felling of trees in Catchment Forest and Sub-Catchment of water streams and water sources. In such areas, even change of land use to horticulture and agriculture should not be permitted as that can add pesticides and inorganic chemicals to soil which will eventually drain in to water sources.
XXII. The State Government shall ensure that the Municipal Solid Waste generated in the Shimla Planning Area is managed strictly in consonance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The Waste to Energy Plant located at Bhariyal should positively be made operational as directed by the Tribunal in the other connected matters by 15th November, 2017.
XXIII. The ban on use of plastic bags and plastic packaging in the Shimla Planning Area is again reaffirmed and reiterated. The State of HP, it's Departments, Himachal State Pollution Control Board and the Municipal Corporation of Shimla shall ensure that no plastic bags or plastic packing or goods are used, stored, sold and/or given with any product, by the shopkeepers in the Shimla Planning Area.
XXIV. The State Government, concerned departments and the local authorities are hereby directed to prepare a complete action plan for collection and disposal of sewage in the Shimla Planning Area expeditiously. The plan should deal with laying of pipeline, putting up of STP and reutilisation of the treated sewage and/or its discharge at the appropriate places wherever there is a discharge in the water body. It shall be ensured that the release of the treated sewage should not be at a point prior to any drain or pipe discharging untreated sewage into the river/water bodies directly, which must be stopped. The Action Plan should be placed before the Tribunal within a period of three months from today.
XXV. It is directed that wherever the concerned authorities extract water from the river or water bodies it should do so according to law and positively prior to a point where discharge from any drain, nalla, etc. meets the river/water body. Though, every effort should be made that no untreated sewage or other polluted water enters the river at all.
XXVI. Wherever there are trees in the compound or land of an owner or a house adjacent to a forest or green area, it shall be the responsibility of such owner/owners to ensure that the trees are properly protected and maintained and no damage is caused or permitted to be caused to their growth.
XXVII. All the directions issued by the Tribunal in relation to collection and disposal of sewage, passed in the case of Abhimanyu Rathor v. State and Ors. (supra) should be strictly complied with.
XXVIII. The concerned departments and the local authorities of the State Government should also prepare a complete and effective Action Plan with regard to disaster management. The Disaster Management Plan should deal with both precautionary and preventive measures that should be taken up presently to ensure that in the event of any untoward incident or natural calamity there is least damage to the natural resources, person and property of the public at large. The action plan should also deal with the preparedness of the concerned wings of the State for the purpose of relief and rehabilitation as a result of disaster.
XXIX. Original Application No. 505 (THc) of 2015 also stands disposed of in terms of this judgement. The Applicant has already submitted the plans for reconstruction of the house on the existing lines on the ground that the same is in dilapidated conditions and is unfit for human habitation.In this judgement, the Tribunal has placed restrictions in consonance with the Notifications issued by the State on the nature and the extent of construction that can be raised in such areas. All these matters are required to be considered by the Supervisory Committee. Therefore, we direct the concerned authorities to consider the application of the applicant afresh, in light of the directions contained in this judgement and pass orders expeditiously in any case not later than four weeks from today. The orders dated 1st August, 2005 and 13th October, 2010 already passed by the authorities would not be given effect to and they will be subject to fresh orders that may be passed by the competent authority."
In view of above, constructions in core areas of Shimla being serious hazard to public safety and environment, any modification as suggested in the application will not be viable. Undoubtedly, the requirement of the High Court is highest priority but in view of danger to the public safety, we do not find it possible to modify the earlier order. As regards the recommendation of the Supervisory Committee constituted in terms of order of this Tribunal, we find that it has merely considered the exceptional requirement but not the issue of public safety and desirability of prohibiting constructions in view of vulnerability of the area.
The application is accordingly disposed of.