NGT pulls up Himachal officials for skipping hearing on monsoon devastation

Shimla, Oct 16 (UNI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary to ensure that the Principal Secretary, Town and Country Planning, appears virtually at the next hearing, failing which the Chief Secretary himself will have to appear virtually before it in a case relating to the state's monsoon catastrophe. A Principal Bench comprising Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr Afroz Ahmad passed the order on October 13 while hearing original application, which arises from a news report published on November 25, 2023. The report was titled "Deforestation, ill-planned construction and unscientific, illegal mining…