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3. The law under Section 6(3) of the Adhiniyam of 2001 mandates that if any conditions are imposed for felling of trees which may include either compensatory afforestation or where the same is not possible, then the contribution may be made within thirty days from the felling of trees.
4. Right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution includes right to have a clean environment. Further the Constitutional (forty-
ii. Article 48A of the Constitution provides that the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country. Clause (g) of Article 51A stipulates that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures. Although these are not justiciable provisions of the Constitution, they are indications that the Constitution recognises the importance of the natural world. The importance of the environment, as indicated by these O.A.No. 125/2025(CZ) News item titled raat me ped kaat jhadiyon me chipa dete hain moka milte hi thikane laga rahe lakdi jagah jagah dikhe thunth appearing in Dainik Bhaskar dated 29th August 2025 provisions, becomes a right in other parts of the Constitution. Article 21 recognises the right to life and personal liberty while Article 14 indicates that all persons shall have equality before law and the equal protection of laws. These articles are important sources of the right to a clean environment and the right against the adverse effects of climate change.

iv. In Virender Gaur v. State of Haryana, this Court recognised the right to a clean environment in the following terms "7. ... The State, in particular has duty in that behalf and to shed its extravagant unbridled sovereign power and to forge in its policy to maintain ecological balance and O.A.No. 125/2025(CZ) News item titled raat me ped kaat jhadiyon me chipa dete hain moka milte hi thikane laga rahe lakdi jagah jagah dikhe thunth appearing in Dainik Bhaskar dated 29th August 2025 hygienic environment. Article 21 protects right to life as a fundamental right. Enjoyment of life and its attainment including their right to life with human dignity encompasses within its ambit, the protection and preservation of environment, ecological balance free from pollution of air and water, sanitation without which life cannot be enjoyed. Any contra acts or actions would cause environmental pollution. Environmental, ecological, air, water, pollution, etc. should be regarded as amounting to violation of Article 21. Therefore, hygienic environment is an integral facet of right to healthy life and it would be impossible to live with human dignity without a humane and healthy environment. Environmental protection, therefore, has now become a matter of grave concern for human existence. Promoting environmental protection implies maintenance of the environment as a whole comprising the man-made and the natural environment. Therefore, there is a constitutional imperative on the State Government and the municipalities, not only to ensure and safeguard proper environment but also an imperative duty to take adequate measures to promote, protect and improve both the man-made and the natural environment."

vii. Without a clean environment which is stable and unimpacted by the vagaries of climate change, the right to life is not fully realised. The right to health (which is a part of the right to life under Article 21) is impacted due to factors such as air pollution, shifts in vector-borne diseases, rising temperatures, droughts, shortages in food supplies due to crop failure, storms, and flooding. The inability of underserved communities to adapt to climate change or cope with its effects violates the right to life as well as the right to equality. This is better understood with the help of an example. If climate O.A.No. 125/2025(CZ) News item titled raat me ped kaat jhadiyon me chipa dete hain moka milte hi thikane laga rahe lakdi jagah jagah dikhe thunth appearing in Dainik Bhaskar dated 29th August 2025 change and environmental degradation lead to acute food and water shortages in a particular area, poorer communities will suffer more than richer ones. The right to equality would undoubtedly be impacted in each of these instances.