Nepal disaster impact: Sikkim High Court initiates PIL on climate justice

The High Court of Sikkim has initiated a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on climate justice after “taking note of the severe hardship and impact of the recent flash floods in Nepal”.

The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, left 1,410 people dead and 6,145 still missing in northern and central Nepal.

In an order on September 17, a Bench comprising Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan made the Railway Ministry and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), along with the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority and the State Power Department, respondents in the PIL on “climate justice”.

The court issued notices to these four authorities.