Dismissed

Pawan Kumar and Ors. vs

NGT4 Aug 2026Original Application No. 359/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The National Green Tribunal considered an application regarding illegal construction in the River Beas at Bhuntar threatening villages. The applicant sought to withdraw the application due to inability to submit evidentiary details at the time of hearing.

What did the court decide?

Present O.A. dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file fresh Original Application in prescribed format.

Pawan Kumar and Ors. vs — Environment and Pollution | NGT (2026)

¶1

Court No. 2

¶2

Item No.01

¶3

BEFORE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI

¶4

Original Application No. 359/2026

Pawan Kumar & Ors.

Applicants

Versus

State of Himachal Pradesh

¶9

Respondent

¶10

Date of hearing: 04.08.2026

¶11

CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER HON’BLE DR. A. SENTHIL VEL, EXPERT MEMBER

¶12

Applicants: Mr. Loveneesh, Advocate for applicants (through V.C.).

¶13

ORDER

¶14

The applicants-Mr. Pawan Singh and others have sent the present letter petition dated 02.03.2026 to this Tribunal by speed-post, which has been treated and registered as O.A. No. 359/2026 for exercise of suo-motu jurisdiction in view of law laid down by Hon’ble Supreme Court in

¶15

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Versus Ankita Sinha and

¶16

others, (2022) 13 SCC 401 .

¶17

The Applicant has raised grievances regarding illegal construction in the riverbed of River Beas at Bhuntar, posing flood risk to adjoining villages Jia and Bada Bhuin at District Kullu, H.P. The relevant part of the O.A. enumerating grievances of the applicant is reproduced as follows:-

¶18

“xxx……………….………………..xxx……………………………………xxx

¶19

1. This is to be brought to the kind notice that the retaining wall which is being constructed near the Sabji mandi Bhunter is imposing a direct threat to the adjoining villages Jia and Bada Bhuin. The above stated villages have already been through great devastation during the 2023,2024 and 2025.

¶20

2. The villagers of above stated areas have already gone through a lot land as well as financial loss during the last floods. The most important question is that state government and departments are not following the guide lines of NGT which has been laid down in number of cases including the M.C Mehta Case.

¶21

3. The construction of the retaining wall is diverting the entire flow of the river toward the above Stated villages, so the while constructing such type of structure is endangering the lives of the villagers concerned.

¶22

¶23

4. That machinery and construction material have been placed inside the river channel, causing obstruction and narrowing of the natural flow of the river. This poses a serious and imminent risk of diversion of water flow towards the adjoining villages, agricultural land and residential houses, particularly during the monsoon and flash floods. 5. Such activity is in violation of environmental laws and binding directions of the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal, besides being dangerous to public life and property.

¶24

I therefore request your good office to:

¶25

1. Order immediate stoppage of all construction activities in the riverbed/floodplain at Bhuntar;

¶26

2. Direct a joint site inspection by Revenue, I&PH, Forest and Police authorities;

¶27

3. Remove encroachments/debris from the river channel forthwith;

¶28

4. Initiate action against the persons responsible; and

¶29

5. Ensure proper demarcation of riverbed and floodplain to prevent future encroachment.

¶30

The matter is extremely urgent as any delay may lead to irreparable loss of life and property.”

¶31

In the course of hearing, learned Counsel for the applicants has joined through V.C. and on being asked to submit complete details regarding the grievances raised in the present O.A., particulars of the violators and the affected land and copies of the relevant documents relied upon in support of the averments made in the O.A., learned Counsel for the applicant seeks permission to withdraw the present O.A. with liberty to file fresh Original Application on the same cause of action in the prescribed format with all relevant factual details, by impleading necessary parties and producing copies of the relevant documents.

¶32

In view of the above, the present O.A. is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty as aforementioned.

¶33

Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM

¶34

Dr. A. Senthil Vel, EM

¶35

August 4^th , 2026 Original Application No. 359/2026 SN

¶36

Pawan Kumar and Ors. vs

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Pawan Kumar and Ors. vs

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Sanjit Kumar So Shri Mohan Prasad Soni vs State of Chhattisgarh through District Collector

Devarajan N vs Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board

V Subramaniam Son of Valliyappagounder vs the President Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board

Letter Petition by Ms Seema Prakash Sharma Titled Illegal Mining in Villages Kuruskera Sindhauri Rawan Borid and Other Adjacent Areas Dated 5TH January 2026 vs State of Chattisgarh

Rohit Tyagi vs

Sandeep Pandey vs

Ramesh Singh vs State of Madhya Pradesh Department of Environment

Suo Moto News Item Titled Rkmp Yahan Safai Par 7 Lakh Kharch Karmchari Maalgadi Par Rakh Dete Hain Kachre Se Bhari Theliyan Appear in Dianik Bhaskar Bhopal Newspaper Dated 27TH April 2026 vs State of Madhya Pradesh

Raja Muzaffar Bhat vs Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir

Sanavvar vs M/S Kisti Paper Mill

Harjeet Singh vs Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board

Deepak Kumar Sharma vs

Abhijit Mahadev Phalke vs

Pradeep Sharma Rastriya Mahasachiv Help Asian Foundation vs