The Uttarakhand High Court has stopped all development and construction activities at the Jilling Estate located in the lush forests of Nainital.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice R C Khulbe passed the order on Tuesday based on a PIL alleging that indiscriminate construction in the area was causing a sharp depletion of forest cover.
Taking into consideration the fact that the Devanya Private Resorts have employed a JCB machine to carry out development activities in the 8.5 hectares' area, the court stayed all construction activities while directing that an inspection of the entire Jilling Estate be carried out.
The court went through Google images of the area from 2015, 2018 and 2022, which showed a depletion in forest cover.
The high court also appointed retired IFS officer Dvijendra Kumar Sharma as the court commissioner for the inspection.
-With PTI Input
