The Supreme Court of India has agreed to examine a plea that seeks to impose restrictions on the Delhi government and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change regarding the felling of trees in Delhi without prior approval from the court. This plea highlights a concerning statistic that approximately five trees are lost every hour in the capital, according to a recent report.
Justices A S Oka and A G Masih, presiding over the case, have called for responses from the concerned authorities by November 22. The plea also advocates for the formation of an expert committee, led by a retired judge from either the Supreme Court or the Delhi High Court, tasked with evaluating and enhancing tree protection measures in Delhi.
The application draws attention to a February 2023 order from the Delhi High Court, which first acknowledged the rapid loss of Delhi’s tree cover based on data from the city’s Forest Department. It argues for a more stringent enforcement of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA), 1994, which mandates the preservation of trees across the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
The applicant has criticized the existing regulatory mechanisms for tree felling, pointing out that procedural safeguards intended to prioritize tree protection have been consistently overlooked. The application cites a lack of frequent and necessary meetings by the tree authority, which has convened only eight times since its establishment in 1995 up until March 2021, despite its obligation to meet quarterly.
Further highlighting the environmental impact, the plea references the National Forest Policy, which recommends that at least one-third of a country’s total land area should be covered by forest or trees. As per the India State of Forest Report 2021, Delhi’s combined forest and tree cover stands at about 23%, significantly lower than the policy’s recommendation of 33%.
