The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained the felling of nearly 25,000 trees in Delhi's Shahabad Mohammadpur for the purpose of expanding the Bijwasan railway station [Naveen Solanki and Another v. Rail Land Development Authority and Others]..A Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Pankaj Mithal passed the order in a plea against a February 13 order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) refusing to halt the tree-felling. The Tribunal had held that the 120-acre area of green cover does not qualify as “forest land” under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980."...we restrain the respondents from felling and/or damaging in any manner the trees and/or otherwise causing damage to the trees on the subject land. We make it clear that no construction shall be carried out in the subject land," the Court said..The appellants have pointed out that the area of the expansion project is a “deemed forest” and enjoys the same protection as forest following a 1996 decision of the top court in TN Godavarman v. Union of India.It was argued before the Court that the area of the project is located adjacent to the Delhi Airport and acts as the primary filter for carbon dioxide. Besides it serves as the lungs of the city, particularly for residents in Southwest Delhi, where green cover is significantly low compared to other parts of the city..The Court sought responses from the Rail Land Development Authority under the Ministry of Railways, the Delhi Forest Department, and the company executing the project. It also issued notice on the interim relief before posting the matter for hearing on October 21..Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocates Ankur Sood, Madhav Gupta, Manan Verma, Madhur Panjwani, Dhaman Trivedi and Prashant appeared for the appellants..[Read Order]
The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained the felling of nearly 25,000 trees in Delhi's Shahabad Mohammadpur for the purpose of expanding the Bijwasan railway station [Naveen Solanki and Another v. Rail Land Development Authority and Others]..A Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Pankaj Mithal passed the order in a plea against a February 13 order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) refusing to halt the tree-felling. The Tribunal had held that the 120-acre area of green cover does not qualify as “forest land” under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980."...we restrain the respondents from felling and/or damaging in any manner the trees and/or otherwise causing damage to the trees on the subject land. We make it clear that no construction shall be carried out in the subject land," the Court said..The appellants have pointed out that the area of the expansion project is a “deemed forest” and enjoys the same protection as forest following a 1996 decision of the top court in TN Godavarman v. Union of India.It was argued before the Court that the area of the project is located adjacent to the Delhi Airport and acts as the primary filter for carbon dioxide. Besides it serves as the lungs of the city, particularly for residents in Southwest Delhi, where green cover is significantly low compared to other parts of the city..The Court sought responses from the Rail Land Development Authority under the Ministry of Railways, the Delhi Forest Department, and the company executing the project. It also issued notice on the interim relief before posting the matter for hearing on October 21..Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocates Ankur Sood, Madhav Gupta, Manan Verma, Madhur Panjwani, Dhaman Trivedi and Prashant appeared for the appellants..[Read Order]