HC Stays Felling of 1,374 Trees in City Over Viability of Compensatory Plantation
Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Tuesday imposed an interim stay on the proposed felling of 1,374 trees in the city's various areas, expressing strong reservations about compensatory plantation in forested zones such as Gorewada in lieu of lost urban greenery. These areas include the Mankapur sports complex, the collectorate, and the divisional commissioner's complex, among others.
The division bench, comprising justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi, while hearing a PIL filed by Preeti Patel and three others, observed that 'not a single tree should be cut' until further orders. The PIL challenges the legality of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation's tree-cutting proposal, alleging it violates mandatory provisions of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.
The petitioners, represented by counsel Mrinall Chakravorty, argued that the civic body submitted the tree-felling proposal without conducting a proper tree census since 2011, without formulating a concrete compensatory plantation plan, and in the absence of a detailed development master plan.
NMC counsel Jemini Kassat submitted that trees were being removed to facilitate the construction of the divisional commissioner's office and that afforestation would be carried out in the Gorewada forest area. The court, however, rejected the approach, stating that urban tree loss cannot be offset by planting in distant forest tracts. "Cutting trees in the city and planting them in the jungle will destroy the environmental balance of the city," the bench observed, before adjourning the hearing till next week.
The judges also raised concerns about the efficacy of compensatory plantations, questioning whether any monitoring mechanism exists to determine the survival rate of planted saplings. "Who is keeping track of how many planted trees are actually surviving?" the bench asked verbally.
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