The Supreme Court has directed the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to conduct meetings with all stakeholders, including the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) and relevant experts, to define and classify non-polluting industries.
Highlighting the critical nature of the task, the Bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih on Friday directed NEERI to submit a preliminary report by October 3, setting out the outer limit for completion of the task.
The Apex Court further asked the CEC to examine the proposal for the development of a civilian terminal at Agra airport and assess whether the number of trees required to be felled for the project could be reduced. The CEC was directed to submit a report on the matter by October 14.
Perusing the affidavit filed by the state government, which said the work of planting 38,740 trees has not yet started, the Bench said it would not allow tree felling and translocation in the Taj Trapezium Zone for the Agra-Jalesar-Etah road project till substantial compensatory afforestation efforts were undertaken by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The state was granted time to file a compliance affidavit on the matter and the matter was listed for further hearing on October 4.
The Bench had earlier emphasized that permission to fell the 2,818 trees identified by the CEC would only be considered once afforestation work began. It further criticised the state for seeking permission to fell 3,874 trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone for the project, when the CEC report indicated that only 2,818 trees were actually required for removal.
The Court stressed that public authorities must re-examine project alignments to minimise the number of trees cut, in line with Article 51A of the Constitution, which emphasised the duty of citizens to protect the environment and uphold the right to a healthy environment.