The Uttarakhand high court has directed the state government to file a response to an urgency application highlighting the threat to the foothills' ecology due to unchecked illegal constructions.
The application, filed by Dehradun resident Reenu Paul, points out that the area between Dehradun and Mussoorie has become a hotspot for unauthorised constructions despite regulations against it.
The court noted that the state government amended building bylaws in 2015 to regulate construction in fragile hill belts, but its implementation remains non-existent.
The petition states that the foothill area acts as a crucial ecological buffer and carbon sink for the Doon Valley, and that the region has increasingly become a hotspot for unauthorised constructions due to a lack of enforcement.
