New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report highlighting recurring landslides and environmental degradation in Darjeeling, West Bengal, linking the disasters to unregulated development, climate change and poor institutional preparedness.
The case, registered as Original Application No. 540 of 2025, is based on a report published in the Indian Express on October 6 titled “The Disaster in Darjeeling.” The NGT’s Principal Bench, comprising Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr. A. Senthil Vel, observed that the news report raised serious environmental and governance concerns, including violations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The tribunal noted that the Darjeeling hills have witnessed repeated natural calamities over the decades, with landslides becoming more frequent and severe due to unsustainable development activities, encroachment along riverbanks, and weak disaster management mechanisms. The bench also took note of exceptionally heavy rainfall on October 3 this year that caused the collapse of the Dudhia Bridge over the Balason River, leading to widespread damage and disruption in the region.
Citing Darjeeling’s strategic location near the Siliguri corridor, the NGT said the issue also carries national security implications and called for stronger national-level intervention in disaster management and climate resilience across the Eastern Himalayas.
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The tribunal directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, the National Disaster Management Authority, and other concerned institutions to file their replies before the Eastern Zonal Bench at Kolkata. The case has been transferred to the Kolkata bench for further hearing on December 22, 2025.
The order was issued by Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, and Dr. A. Senthil Vel, Expert Member, on October 28, 2025.
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