Kullu Deputy Commissioner Chamel Singh expressed surprise when told about the slogans on the rocks along the National Highway. “Thank you for drawing our attention. I was not aware of it,” he told The Indian Express.

The extent of damage is visible at Patlikuhl, 25 km from Manali. This is one of the places where the rocks have been painted. The Nepali labourers, who work in the nearby apple orchards and have their huts next to a mountain stream which flows through the rocks, deny any knowledge. “We have no clue about who did this. We don’t even understand what is written,” said Dil Bahadur, one of the settlers here.

State’s Principal Secretary (Forests) Ashok Thakur confirmed that he had received reports. He said it is not clear who is to be blamed and that an inquiry would be instituted to probe the matter. “We will ask for a report from the conservator of forests there,” he said. He was quick to add, “It looks as if whoever has done this is not aware of the Supreme Court directive.”

Kullu Additional Deputy Commissioner Ashok Jain assured an inquiry into the fresh defacement of the rocks. “ This is something we will not allow again,” he said.

The apex court, in 2002, had fined the Himachal Government Rs 1 crore and the two soft drink majors Coca Cola and Pepsi Rs 2 lakh each for causing damage to the rocks. The damage to the rocks was first reported by The Indian Express then. A Bench comprising the then chief justice B N Kirpa alongwith Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Arijit Pasayat had imposed the penalty for painting advertisements on the rocks in violation of the Forests Conservation Act. Only recently, Thakur had managed to persuade the CEC to provide the Rs 1 crore, deposited as fine with the SC by the state government in 2002 , for conservation purposes in Kullu.