Calcutta High Court flags concern over decreasing green cover in Kolkata; halts Railways' plan to uproot 700 trees

The Calcutta High Court recently restrained the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), an arm of the Indian Railways, from uprooting around 700 trees from a maidan (open space) near the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, on concerns that the same could impact the city's green cover and landscape [People United For Better Living In Calcutta (PUBLIC) vs State of West Bengal]..While passing the order, the vacation bench of Justices Moushumi Bhattacharya and Bibhas Ranjan De noted that the maidan was one of the green lungs of the city."Any resident of Kolkata would agree that the Maidan is much more than an open space. The Maidan is one of the lungs of the city and literally serves as a hub of recreational activities to Kolkatans. The Maidan is a metaphor of a city which 'breathes' a culture of community activities. In that sense, a Maidan, shorn of trees, would irrevocably change the cityscape to a thirsty and arid space," the bench said in its October 26, order.The bench further raised concern over the rising temperatures in Kolkata, while opining that the trees at the maidan should not be uprooted en masse."It is important to bear in mind that Kolkata has been identified as the city with the highest rise in average temperatures since 1950 - compared to the other mega cities in the country. A study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scary wake-up call," the bench highlighted..The Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO which had challenged the "random and unexplained" decision to uproot 700 trees from the maidan. The petitioner relied on a newspaper report, which stated that these trees were going to be transplanted elsewhere as part of pre-construction work to develop the Mominpur-Esplanade section of a metro line..The Court opined that it was essential that the indiscriminate cutting down of trees should be prevented at any cost, particularly in the absence of a credible explanation by the concerned authorities over why these trees must be uprooted. "700 trees mentioned in the petitioner’s letters, is alarming to say the least. Both RVNL and the Union government have a collective duty to preserve the ecological balance of the city of Kolkata," the Court added. .The bench, therefore, passed a limited order of injunction against RVNL to immediately halt the uprooting of trees in the maidan until RVNL and the Union of India or the Union Ministry of Environment file their responses. Both entities were unrepresented when the matter was taken up on October 26. "The non-representation of both RVNL as well as the Union of India, who is the custodian of Maidan, does not help matters since the Court has been deprived of a clearer factual picture of what exactly the RVNL proposes to do in the Maidan and whether RVNL could have opted for an alternative site for construction of the Metro Station," the Court said. .This interim stay would remain effective till November 17, the bench added. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on November 9, before another vacation bench of the High Court..As per the NGO (petitioner), it had written three letters to the Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the State under the Right to Information Act, 2005, seeking information on the basis of RVNL’s decision to construct a Metro Station on the maidan. All three letters also flagged concern over the plan to uproot 700 trees for the project, 200 of which were for facilitating the movement of the machinery and equipment for the project. The petitioner approached the Court after the CPIO failed to respond to these letters. The bench also noted that the petitioner had sent a letter to the Chairman and Managing Director of RVNL on September 28, 2023, with these concerns.However, the RVNL remained silent and did not care to reply to the letter, the bench observed, while passing its interim order. .Advocates Siddhartha Mitra, Dipendra Nath Chunder, Ajeyaa Choudhury and Sagnik Mukherjee appeared for the NGO-petitioner.Advocates Tapan Kumar Mukherjee, Shamim ul Bari and Somnath Naskar represented the State government. .[Read Order]