Sikkim High Court orders statewide checks on industries and hotels

The Sikkim High Court has ordered joint inspections of pharmaceutical units, other industries and hotels across the state over concerns that waste is piling up on farmland and untreated effluent is reaching rivers and streams.

A division bench of Chief Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Bhaskar Raj Pradhan passed the directions on Wednesday, October 28, while hearing a public interest litigation on garbage and waste management.

Who will inspect, and what

The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), district administrations and District Legal Services Authorities will carry out the inspections together. They will check whether waste management systems are adequate and whether establishments are discharging effluent into rivers, streams and water channels. The SPCB must also verify whether hotels hold the mandatory consent to operate and are following its conditions.

The court linked the case with an earlier, closed PIL from 2017 on effluent discharge by pharmaceutical companies at Singtam.

Mangan District Collector Anant Jain told the court that inspections had already been carried out in his district and that households and hotels had been told to stop dumping waste into water bodies.

Deadline for hotels

The SPCB said hotels operating without consent had been given until March 31, 2027, to get approval. The bench made clear that any establishment still non-compliant after that date must be closed.

Sewerage rules in three months

The judges noted that rules under the Sikkim Sewerage and Sewage Disposal Act, 2025, notified in January 2026, had still not been framed, and directed the state to finish the job within three months.

On the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the bench observed that requiring a state secretary to initiate action could slow enforcement, and suggested the Centre consider allowing district collectors to do so. The Deputy Solicitor General was asked to send the order to the Union government.

Construction in fragile areas

The court also raised concerns about unchecked hotel construction in remote areas. It asked the state to consider extending the Sikkim Building Construction Regulation, 1991, which now applies only to Gangtok, to the whole state. The state's position is due at the next hearing on November 25, 2026.