Shimla, April 19 -- In a relief to 19 villages, the Himachal Pradesh high court (HC) has set aside a 2022 notification declaring an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Col Sherjung National Park in Sirmaur, holding that the process adopted by authorities was legally flawed and violated mandatory procedural safeguards. "We are of the considered opinion that in view of nature of the impact of declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zone on the residents of the area, the procedure provided in the guidelines for declaring EcoSensitive Zone is mandatory in nature so as to avoid any inconvenience and hardship to interests of the area residents. In present case, respondents have miserably failed to follow the prescribed procedure," ruled the HC bench. Col Sherjung National Park, also known as Simbalbara National Park, is a protected area in the Paonta Valley of Sirmour district. The order passed by a division bench comprising justice Vivek Singh Thakur and justice Ranjan Sharma, following the petitions of gram panchayats Bhatanwali, Patalia, and Behral, further read, "....impugned notification dated January 13, 2022 is liable to be quashed, and accordingly, the same is quashed and set aside." The order brings significant relief to residents of 19 villages brought under the ESZ framework, which had restricted their land use, construction, and economic activity. In a notification dated January 13, 2022, issued by the Centre, several villages were declared as ESZ. Following this, a plea was filed alleging that the inclusions were made without adhering to due process and without valid recommendations from competent authorities. The initial exercise for notifying the ESZ had begun in 2012, followed by a draft notification in 2015, but the proposal lapsed after the state failed to provide necessary inputs within the stipulated time. A fresh proposal was pushed forward in 2020 and finalised in 2022. The plea pointed out that no expert committee was constituted after the lapse. The court also considered the expansion of the ESZ coverage from just four villages in earlier drafts to 19 villages in the final notification, without any recorded justification or supporting study. The court observed that the prescribed procedure under the 2011 guidelines for declaring Eco-Sensitive Zones-such as conducting surveys, preparing an inventory of land use, and constituting a committee involving local authorities, ecologists, and revenue officials-was not followed....