New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed alarm that rampant illegal tree felling appeared to be taking place across the fragile Himalayan belt, as it referred to videos of timber logs floating in the floodwaters of Himachal Pradesh. A bench comprising CJI Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran, underscored the gravity of the issue against the backdrop of widespread devastation in the northern states caused by incessant rains, flash floods and cloudbursts. "We have seen unprecedented landslides and floods in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. From the media reports, it is also noticed that in the flood, a huge number of wooden logs were floating around. Prima facie, it appears that there has been illegal felling of trees which has been going on uphill," the bench noted in its order, while hearing a public interest litigation on environmental degradation in the Himalayan region. The court issued notice to the Union of India (through the ministries of environment and jal shakti), the National Disaster Management Authority, the National Highways Authority of India, and the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Orally addressing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta after the order, CJI Gavai stressed: "It is a serious issue. In the media we have seen that a large number of wooden logs are flowing around in Himachal and Uttarakhand. Illegal tree felling is going on...Villages after villages in Punjab are inundated."...