National Green Tribunal
Public Action Committee Through Its ... vs State Of Punjab Through The Chief ... on 24 July, 2024
Item No. 07 Court No. 1
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI
Original Application No. 829/2024
Public Action Committee & Ors. Applicant
Versus
State of Punjab & Ors. Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 24.07.2024
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRAKASH SHRIVASTAVA, CHAIRPERSON
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR TYAGI, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE DR. A. SENTHIL VEL, EXPERT MEMBER
Applicant: Mr. Kapil Dev, Applicant in Person (Through VC)
ORDER
1. In this original application, Applicant has raised the grievance in respect of felling of trees in the implementation of the four-laning project of Major District Road Sirhind-Patiala Road of 22 Km. stretch and the allegation is that in the implementation of the said project, 7392 fully grown-up trees and around 20000 mid-sized trees including the shrubs will be axed. It is further the allegation in the OA that trees in almost 7 Km. of stretch have already been axed within last 10 days by the Forest Department.
2. Submission of the Applicant is that the option of transplantation of the trees should have been adopted and that compensatory afforestation has been proposed in Hoshiarpur 180 Kms. away and Ropar 75 km away from the location of felling of trees on the ground that there is no space left for plantation along the roadside after widening the road in the concerned location. The plea of the Applicant is that in terms of the Indian Road Congress (IRC) Code SP: 21-2009 Guidelines, the land ought to have been acquired for compensatory afforestation. In support of the 1 plea, the Applicant has placed reliance upon clause 1.3, 1.4, 1.7 and 9.3 of the IRC Guidelines which are extracted as under:
"Section 1.3: It is the responsibility of the road agencies to offset the loss of trees and other changes resulted into the surroundings. There is a need to follow the approach of "Corridor Development & Management", rather than "Highway Development". Apart from mitigating the environmental losses, road agencies must plan to enhance the aesthetics of the highway corridor from all possible angles. Highways should not be looked upon merely as a means of transportation, but as a part and parcel of the environmental and socio-economic milieu.
Section 1.4: The land needed for the avenue plantation and landscape improvement has to be considered during the project formulation stage itself. As a result, after construction, when the plantation is actually to start, the land is available for planting. The width of the remaining ROW is, many times, not sufficient enough to accommodate even a single row of plants; whereas at some places, three to four rows can be planted. To ensure availability of sufficient width for avenue plantation, the requirement of land for tree plantation should be assessed and included in the land acquisition plans prepared for a highway widening project.
xxx ..................................xxx.........................................xxx Section 1.7: Highway design and landscaping should be regarded as complementary and tackled as a single planning task. The detailed project reports prepared for the road projects must include landscaping and tree planting as an integral part of the design. The landscape features must be studied during the design process and specific drawing, designs, and specifications must be prepared. There should be no compromise on the cost.
xxx ..................................xxx.........................................xxx Section 9.3: Acquisition of Additional Land 9.3.1 Based on the inventory, an action programme should be prepared as regards additional landscaping measures and traveller amenities. If available land width is insufficient to implement this programme, acquisition of additional land should be seriously considered keeping in view the following requirements:
i) To provide flatter side slopes in cuts and fills along with contouring of the adjacent land.
ii) To provide enough space for planting suitable trees and plants."
3. The OA raises substantial issue relating to compliance of the environmental norms.
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4. Issue notice to the respondents. Applicant is directed to serve the respondents and file affidavit of service at least one week before the next date of hearing.
5. List on 17.10.2024.
Prakash Shrivastava, CP Arun Kumar Tyagi, JM Dr. A. Senthil Vel, EM July 24, 2024 Original Application No. 829/2024 DV 3