Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Gangtok: The Sikkim High Court ordered a joint inspection of all state industries and hotels on Wednesday. Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan issued the directive to the State Pollution Control Board, district offices, and legal authorities. They want to stop pharmaceutical companies and other businesses from dumping raw waste on farmland or into water supplies.
The court combined this case with a 2017 public interest litigation concerning effluent discharge in Singtam. Officials are now checking if hotels have valid operating permits. The board warned that any hotel missing these approvals by March 31, 2027, will face a shutdown. Mangan District Collector Anant Jain told the court his team already ordered residents and business owners to stop polluting local rivers.
Sewerage rules are lagging. The state notified the Sikkim Sewerage and Sewage Disposal Act in January 2026, but the actual rules remain unfinished. The court gave the government three months to fix this, citing a February 19, 2026, Supreme Court ruling regarding the Bhopal Municipal Corporation. The bench expressed frustration over current enforcement laws that require a state secretary to approve every action against polluters. The judges suggested giving district collectors that power instead.
The court also flagged the risks of unregulated hotel construction in remote, ecologically fragile regions. They want the government to expand the Sikkim Building Construction Regulation, 1991, to cover the entire state. Currently, those rules only apply to Gangtok. Additional Advocate General must explain the state's plan for this expansion on November 25, 2026. "The bench made it clear that establishments failing to comply after the deadline must be closed."
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