File report on rafting camps, NGT instructs Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday instructed Uttarakhand government to come back on August 13 with records of the inspections they have conducted of rafting camps, the regulations or guidelines for these camps, any examples of de-licensing a camp in the past 20 years for violating norms, and a study or environmental assessment if any that has been held by the government.

The bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar was hearing a plea by Indian Association of Professional Rafting Outfitters seeking permission to continue operating rafting camps in the Kaudilya to Tapovan stretch in Uttarakhand.

During the proceedings, Akhil Sibal, lawyer representing IAPRO said that rafting is a ‘non-polluting’ activity in fact it is a ‘back to nature’ experience. He said rafting camps require forest department’s permission to run for over two decades now. “I mentioned that we are not against any form of regulation, survey and studies, or any kind of monitoring.We have in fact requested it, and do not want the entire tourism industry to be impacted by a few violations that may have occurred in the past,” Sibal said. Referring to a study that had concluded certain sites are unsuitable for camping because of their proximity to wildlife, Sibal said the assessment by WII in 2010 was done by jetboat (which by itself is disallowed on the Ganga) covering 40 camps in a single day.