Fostering tourism, undertaking construction projects and developing infrastructure are ways through which a State generates revenue and creates employment opportunities. However, some of them come at a steep environmental cost. In the recent case of Re: Cleanliness of Umiam Lake versus State of Meghalaya (2023), the division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W. Diengdoh, in its order, stated that “In the absence of any other employment opportunities and in the name of promoting tourism, the natural beauty of the State should not be destroyed”.
The Meghalaya High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the cleanliness of the Umiam Lake. The court in its observation of the Meghalaya Waterbodies (Preservation and Conservation) Guidelines, 2023, said that they did not deal with the “most serious aspect of buildings and construction mushrooming around waterbodies”.
