The Madhya Pradesh High Court has stepped in sharply after reports emerged that nearly 500 trees were felled without mandatory approvals for a road-widening project near Bhopal. Taking suo motu cognisance, a division bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf on Thursday summoned seven senior officials and ordered a temporary halt on all tree cutting in the state capital.
According to a newspaper report placed before the court, the Raisen division of the Public Works Department (PWD) cut down 488 trees for widening the Bhojpur–Berasia road without obtaining clearance from the government-mandated committee on tree felling or the designated tree officer, as required under National Green Tribunal guidelines.
The bench issued notices to the executive engineer of the PWD, under-secretary and administrative officer-cum-under-secretary of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, the Bhopal municipal commissioner, the principal chief conservator of forests, the principal secretary of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, and the general manager of the West Central Railway. All have been asked to appear before the court on November 26.
The judges also imposed a sweeping interim restriction:
“In the meantime, no tree in the entire area of Bhopal shall be cut, pruned or transplanted in any manner except with the leave of this court.”
State officials told the bench that the district collector had granted permission to transplant 448 trees, and promised that ten times the number of trees which could not be transplanted would be planted. They said 253 trees had already been transplanted.
But Bhopal resident Nitin Saxena, allowed to intervene, contested these claims. He told the court that photographs showed no evidence of transplantation. The bench then directed the government to file satellite-based photographs with GPS coordinates to prove the relocation of the trees.
Saxena also informed the court of a pending proposal to remove another 244 trees in Bhopal for residential complexes. Citing a newspaper report from Thursday, he said a new tactic was emerging where trees were being cut after stripping branches and leaves, but labelled as “shifting” to avoid scrutiny.
The court noted the state government’s admission that Madhya Pradesh has no formal tree-plantation policy. Photographs placed on record showed trunks being replanted without branches or foliage — raising doubts about whether such “transplanted” trees could survive.
An October 30, 2025 communication from the executive engineer of the Vidhan Sabha Building Controller to the principal secretary of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat was also highlighted. The letter stated that trees obstructing construction of a residential complex were being removed and that large quantities of branches and wood had been collected. It even sought permission to use the material.
The bench said the document suggested that neither genuine transplantation nor conservation was being attempted, but that preparations were underway to remove 244 additional trees.
With multiple concerns arising from the reports and submissions, the High Court has demanded detailed photographic evidence and summoned senior officials for explanation. Until then, tree felling in Bhopal is on hold, with the court asserting that no removal or “transplantation” will be permitted without its explicit approval.
