📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / ArmouredCyborg
Local
Committee files legal notice to NHAI over Beas riverbed construction, demands immediate halt
✍️ Himachal Scape
🗓 20 Oct 2026, 06:32 AM
👁 15
A committee has served a legal notice to the National Highways Authority of India demanding an immediate stop to construction activities in the Beas riverbed in Himachal Pradesh.
The committee overseeing riverine projects in Himachal Pradesh has issued a formal legal notice to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The notice alleges that ongoing construction work within the Beas riverbed violates environmental regulations and threatens the river’s ecological balance.
According to the committee’s statement, the construction activities, part of a highway expansion project, were undertaken without the requisite clearances from the state’s water resources department. The committee has demanded that NHAI halt all work immediately until a comprehensive environmental impact assessment is completed and approved.
NHAI has not yet responded publicly to the notice. The matter is expected to be taken up by the state’s legal authorities, and the committee warned that any continuation of the work could attract further legal action.
The Beas river, a vital water source for agriculture and hydro‑electric projects in the region, has faced increasing pressure from infrastructure development. Environmental groups have previously raised concerns about the potential degradation of river habitats.
The committee’s intervention underscores growing scrutiny of large‑scale infrastructure projects that intersect with sensitive ecological zones in the Himalayas.
According to the committee’s statement, the construction activities, part of a highway expansion project, were undertaken without the requisite clearances from the state’s water resources department. The committee has demanded that NHAI halt all work immediately until a comprehensive environmental impact assessment is completed and approved.
NHAI has not yet responded publicly to the notice. The matter is expected to be taken up by the state’s legal authorities, and the committee warned that any continuation of the work could attract further legal action.
The Beas river, a vital water source for agriculture and hydro‑electric projects in the region, has faced increasing pressure from infrastructure development. Environmental groups have previously raised concerns about the potential degradation of river habitats.
The committee’s intervention underscores growing scrutiny of large‑scale infrastructure projects that intersect with sensitive ecological zones in the Himalayas.