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Tree Cutting
The NGT has asked the member secretary of the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (UKPCB) and the state's principal chief conservator of forests to appear before it in a matter regarding illegal felling of 176 trees in Udham Singh Nagar district. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was hearing a petition on the unauthorised felling of trees during the development of a residential colony by private persons in the district's Chandpur village. In its order dated February 24, a bench of judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A Senthil Vel said that according to a report submitted by a joint committee that was set up earlier, 176 trees were felled illegally and environmental compensation had to be recovered for it. The committee comprised the district magistrate, the Dehradun regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, and the UKPCB. Taking note of the report, the tribunal sought a response from the Uttarakhand chief secretary and ..
The National Green Tribunal has observed that the illegal felling of 980 trees in Greater Noida was not taken seriously by the Uttar Pradesh authorities, and asked the principal chief conservator of forest to appear virtually before it on May 13 to apprise it on the action taken. The green body was hearing a plea alleging unauthorised felling of a large number of trees in Greater Noida's DCM (Daewoo Motors) company premises which had been shut for the last 22 years. Observing that a significant number of trees have been cut, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said that after an inspection by the forest officers, 980 trees were found to be cut and that action had only been taken against two vehicles transporting timber from the illegally cut trees. "Such timber could, at most, be from eight to 10 illegally cut trees. There is no record indicating what action has been taken by the forest department to trace the timber cut from the more than 900 other trees, nor to
The National Green Tribunal has issued notice to the Centre regarding the alleged felling of scores of trees in the national capital. The green body was hearing about the alleged illegal felling of thousands of trees at Chajju Ram Bagh in Jindpur by a private builder to construct a warehouse and commercial godown. In an order dated December 9, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that the district magistrate of north Delhi did not file his reply, as per the tribunal's earlier order to produce the relevant khasra entries and revenue record of Chajju Ram Bagh of last 20 years to ascertain the correct position. The bench also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel noted that the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) filed a compliance report enclosing an order where the forest officials concerned had imposed a compounding fee of Rs nine lakh for illegal felling of 15 trees. "It cannot be ascertained under what ...
The ruling AAP on Saturday challenged the BJP to present documents to prove that trees were felled in the Ridge area after the approval of the Delhi chief minister. The BJP has found an opportunity to do politics in this matter and since Friday, it has been showing some documents saying that these trees were felled on the orders of Kejriwal, AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said. "This is impossible because only the Supreme Court can give permission for the felling of trees from the Ridge area. If the BJP has such documents, then they should stop drama and put these papers before the Supreme Court," she said. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor hit back and alleged AAP was "misleading" people. "All the documents we have shared have signatures of the Delhi Chief Minister and Environment minister. The AAP government can not escape responsibility as the party leaders are misleading people by saying the permission was related to a different project," he said. AAP sourc
The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday questioned the BJP's silence over the "illegal" felling of trees in the ridge area, and said the party's stand on Delhi's pollution is just "politics". Addressing a press conference, AAP senior leader Jasmine Shah said that since the issue has surfaced, the BJP and Lt Governor VK Saxena have maintained "silence" over it. "BJP is the first to do politics over the issue of pollution and shed crocodile tears over it. They have stalled many works of the Delhi government over the pollution issue. Why are they silent?" he said. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is alleged to have cut 1,100 trees without due permission. The Supreme Court, hearing a case related to the matter, has directed the Delhi government and the civic agencies to discuss comprehensive measures to enhance the city's green cover. Shah also asked if officers of the DDA and the forest department were under pressure from their higher-ups over the matter. He claimed that the officials w
Tree felling for Parsa East and Kete Basan (PEKB) phase-2 extension coal mines in the biodiversity-rich Hasdeo Arand region of Chhattisgarh's Surguja district has begun amid police security cover. Activists alleged police on Thursday detained those who were protesting against coal mining in the Hasdeo area. The Opposition Congress raised the issue in the state Assembly and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of favouring industrialists. The local administration claimed it had all the necessary permissions to go ahead with tree felling, while police officials said they had visited the residences of some locals to advise them not to create a law and order situation. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai told reporters in the Assembly complex that he has received information about opposition by people (against deforestation) but no arrest has been made. The forest department started felling trees for PEKB phase 2 in Udaipur development block of Surguja district this (Thursday
Hundreds of activists have staged the 'Chalo Chipko' (let's hug trees) agitation in the Mutha riverbed in Maharashtra's Pune city to protest the felling of trees for the ambitious Pune River Front Development project. During the agitation held on Saturday, the protesters carried placards, shouted slogans to save the river, trees and the city and hugged the trees along the riverbank while forming a human chain. The project envisages development of a 44-kilometre stretch of the river bank comprising 22.2 km of the Mula river, 10.4 km of the Mutha river and 11.8 km of the Mula-Mutha river. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the project in March 2022. The activists accused the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) of destroying natural greenery along the riverbank near Bund Garden in the name of its River Rejuvenation Project. A few thousand trees including some rare and old trees are being cut down for a one-km stretch of the riverfront, they alleged. The PMC, howe