The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 16 took suo motu cognisance of the fast depleting urban green cover in Mumbai..A Coram of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad issued notice in the matter and listed it for hearing before the Western Zonal Bench of NGT on May 28..The proceeding was registered based on an Indian Express report titled "Mumbai lost over 21,000 trees in 6 years to make way for Metro, road projects"..As per the report, Mumbai has lost an urban green cover of 2,028 hectares, surpassing the figure of 1,300 hectares that Aarey forest spans. It further revealed that the loss of green cover has contributed to 19,640.9 tonnes of carbon emission per year.The report stated that Mumbai is a coastal city due to which landmass for tree plantation is limited. It also opined that the rapid cutting of trees is one of the contributing factors to high pollution in Mumbai because trees have a leaf area index that absorbs pollutants and keeps carbon footprint in check..The NGT said that the report has raised a substantial issue relating to compliance with the environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of Scheduled enactment.Accordingly, it issued notice to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) & Head of Forest Force (HoFF) of Maharashtra, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Mumbai's District Collector..[Read Order]
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on April 16 took suo motu cognisance of the fast depleting urban green cover in Mumbai..A Coram of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad issued notice in the matter and listed it for hearing before the Western Zonal Bench of NGT on May 28..The proceeding was registered based on an Indian Express report titled "Mumbai lost over 21,000 trees in 6 years to make way for Metro, road projects"..As per the report, Mumbai has lost an urban green cover of 2,028 hectares, surpassing the figure of 1,300 hectares that Aarey forest spans. It further revealed that the loss of green cover has contributed to 19,640.9 tonnes of carbon emission per year.The report stated that Mumbai is a coastal city due to which landmass for tree plantation is limited. It also opined that the rapid cutting of trees is one of the contributing factors to high pollution in Mumbai because trees have a leaf area index that absorbs pollutants and keeps carbon footprint in check..The NGT said that the report has raised a substantial issue relating to compliance with the environmental norms and implementation of the provisions of Scheduled enactment.Accordingly, it issued notice to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) & Head of Forest Force (HoFF) of Maharashtra, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Mumbai's District Collector..[Read Order]
