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Court: Local Trees for Local Compensation
15 Aug
Summary
- Compensatory tree planting must be local, rules court.
- Distant plantations fail to offset local environmental loss.
- Court mandates local afforestation for tree felling permits.
In a significant ruling, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court has mandated that compensatory afforestation for felled trees should, as far as possible, be conducted in the same locality or an adjoining area. The court acknowledged that planting trees at distant locations cannot sufficiently compensate for the environmental degradation experienced by residents of the affected neighborhood.
The division bench, comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Raj Wakode, disposed of a suo motu Public Interest Litigation concerning the proposed felling of trees for a commercial project. They accepted undertakings from the developer, ensuring no trees on Plot No. 3 would be felled without obtaining environmental clearance and Municipal Corporation approval.
The court issued crucial guidelines, highlighting that distant plantations create a 'spatial imbalance' and fail to mitigate increased temperatures, air pollution, and biodiversity loss. They stressed that new saplings cannot replace the benefits of mature trees for the original ecosystem and its residents. The ruling mandates the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to enforce this locality-based afforestation principle for all future tree-felling permissions.
