Green court directs Border Roads Organisation to plant 10000 trees in Uttarakhand

Subject: Environment

Section: Environmental Law

Context:

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to plant at least 10,000 trees within a month in Uttarakhand as part of compensatory tree plantation to make up for hundreds of trees felled during construction of a road from Simli to Gwaldam.

Details:

NGT formed a joint committee comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), BRO, Uttarakhand State Pollution Control Board (PCB) along with the District Magistrate and Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Chamoli who have been directed to “verify the factual position and take appropriate remedial action in the violation of environmental norms”.

No illegal felling:

The committee report said there was no illegal felling of trees during the construction.
There had been 17 landslides on the road from Simli to Gwaldam.
A joint mechanism needed to be developed between the BRO and forest department to:
- monitor landslides,
- assessing damage to vegetation and
- Treat sites with appropriate measures.

Responsibilities vested to the district authorities:

The DFO Chamoli was directed to monitor survival of the plantation for three months and report to the NGT.
- The DFO will also ensure that the plantation is done in a manner which will prevent landslides.

The District Magistrate will ensure that the BRO takes appropriate steps to prevent landslides by constructing protective structures and will submit a report on the number of landslides during the intervening period and action taken to prevent it.

Laws related to tree felling in India:

In India, aspects related to trees are covered under the Indian Forest Act, 1927
It is broadly under this Act that each state has laid down rules and regulations against tree felling.

Along with that various states have come up their own laws for the same purpose like-

Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act 1975
Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (1994)
Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976
West Bengal Trees (Protection and Conservation in Non-Forest Areas) Act, 2006
Also, various cities like Gurugram, Chennai etc. come up with their own notifications regarding felling of trees

Cutting OF RESERVED TREES and FORESTS:

Under Indian Forest Act, 1927,Section 30– The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,

declare any trees or class of trees in a protected forest to be reserved from a date fixed by, the notification;
declare that any portion of such forest specified in the notification shall be closed for such term, not exceeding thirty years, as the State Government thinks fit, and that the rights of private persons, if any, over such portion shall be suspended during such terms

Section 33 Indian Forest Act

Penalties for acts in contravention of notification under section 30
Any person who-
- fells any tree reserved under section 30, or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, any such tree;
- permits cattle to damage any such tree;
- shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
Is it punishable to cut trees even at my own premises?
- Yes, according to Indian Forest Act, the penalty for cutting down a tree is Rs.10,000 or 3 months imprisonment.
- This punishment may extend up to one year under various state acts.
- But in some cases like where a tree is blocking your way, whose branches are spreading to your house or blocking hoardings, you need to take a clearance from the Forest department, before cutting that tree.

Border Road Organisation (BRO):

The BRO was formed on 7 May 1960 to secure India’s borders and develop infrastructure in remote areas of the north and north-east states of the country.
The BRO is a road construction executive force in India that provides support to Indian Armed Forces.
BRO develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighboring countries.
- This includes infrastructure operations in 19 states and three union territories (including Andaman and Nicobar Islands) and neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka.
As of 2021,BRO had constructed over 60,000 kilometres (37,282 mi) of roads, over 450 permanent bridges with a total length of over 60,000 metres (37 mi) length and 19 airfields in strategic locations.
BRO is also tasked with maintaining this infrastructure including operations such as snow clearance.
BRO is instrumental in significantly upgrading and building new India-China Border Roads.
Motto: Shramena Sarvam Sadhyam (everything is achievable through hardwork).