The Apex Court has asked the Central government to respond on the implementation of the recommendations which were madeby the seven-member Committee for developing guidelines to govern cutting of trees for developmental projects.
A bench comprising of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath took the report on record, and praised the Herculean task by the committee members and commended them for their efforts.
The order stated that a request has been made to the ASG Aishwarya Bhati, for obtaining the response of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and place the same on record by way of an affidavit.
The order stated that the affidavit would state the measures that would be taken by the Union of India to give effect to the recommendations made by the Expert Committee in the said report.
The matter will be heard again on February 8.
In March 2021,the Apex court ordered the constitution of the committee in view of climate change becoming a growing national and international concern.
The then CJI SA Bogde led a bench which passed an order in a petition against the West Bengal government’s decision to fell trees in order to construct Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and widen roads.
Advocate K Parameshwar was appointed as an Amicus Curiae to assist the Bench in the case.
The committee headed by report of the committee headed by Dr. MK Ranjitsinh Jhala that was published in January 2022 recommended A national model Act for protecting public-owned trees on non-forest land (PTNFL),was recommended by a committee in January 2022,which was headed by Dr. MK Ranjitsinh Jhala.
The committee identified eco-sensitive sites with a minimum threshold beyond which land diversion and tree felling should not be allowed.
It suggested revising the Net Present Value (NPV) for diverting forests for development purposes and recommended substantial modifications in the methodology of estimation of NPV.
The Committee has recommended valuing trees should be on a cost-based approach of transplantation and substitution, using the trunk formula with the species, size, condition and location as input variables
They also highlighted on Tree conservation authorities at State and local levels.