Dehradun, Aug. 8 -- The National Green Tribunal asked the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) and Uttarakhand government to submit their response over a petition filed against 2025 Doon Valley notification, which amends the 1989 notification recognising Doon valley as an ecologically sensitive area requiring special environmental safeguards. The NGT asked Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file their response on the matter at least one week before the next hearing scheduled on September 19. The petition was filed by Uttarakhand-based trust Dev Bhoomi Manav Sansadhan Vikas Samiti, which said that issuance of the Doon Valley Notification on February 1, 1989, was in pursuance to the judgment of the Supreme Court and the notification recognises that the Doon Valley is an ecologically sensitive area requiring special environmental safeguards. The samiti claimed that the amendment notification takes away the protection which was extended to the Doon Valley and the entire powers relating to Tourism Plan, Grazing Plan, Master Plan of Development and Land Use Plan, etc. have been given to the state government without any control by the central government. "The notification will have the adverse effect on the ecology of the area," it said. Suryakant Dhasmana, state Congress vice president and chairman of Dev Bhoomi Manav Sansadhan Vikas Samiti said, "This 1989 notification classified industries into red (most polluting), orange (polluting), and green (non-polluting) categories. Crucially, it banned the red category industries from operating in Doon Valley, and even for the orange category industries, Union government approval was mandatory. The state government was also required to obtain Union clearance for grazing and tourism plans, ensuring central oversight to preserve ecological balance. However, in a deeply concerning development, the MoEF&CC amended this protection through its notification dated May 13,2025, apparently in response to persistent lobbying by the state government to dilute the 1989 safeguards." "Under this amendment, activities such as stone crushers, DG sets, hot mix plants, hotels, lime manufacturing, new highway construction, foam manufacturing, etc., which earlier required Union consent, are now left entirely to the discretion of State authorities. There is also pressure to remove slaughterhouses from the red category classification, to avoid regulatory hurdles, despite their high pollution footprint. This shift is not merely a procedural alteration; it represents a calculated move to commercialise the Doon Valley, sacrificing its ecological sensitivity at the altar of short-term revenue generation and vested political interests. The decision effectively opens the floodgates for unregulated industrial expansion, setting the stage for an ecological catastrophe under the misleading banner of development."...