Chandigarh: Nine months after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Haryana government to frame a policy for regulation of felling of trees on non-forest land, the Khattar government is working on setting up such a system.
“In Haryana, trees come under three different categories. Forest land, which comes under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in urban areas and land in rural areas,” Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal confirmed to ThePrint. Development.
At present, urban bodies are the competent authority to allow felling of trees in urban areas, while for rural areas the development and panchayat department of the state government should be approached.
“Since the directions of the NGT (last July), we have held two meetings with the concerned department officials. Everything was discussed in detail in the first meeting itself.
Last July, the Principal Bench of the NGT under Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, while hearing an application based in Kurukshetra, directed the state government to develop such a system. environmental NGO, Green Earth. The NGO has stated in its application that Kurukshetra Development Board had a plan to cut 24 indigenous trees in Krishna Vatika, Jyotisar Teerth.
The application further states that these trees were planted by former Prime Minister Gulzari Lal Nanda and former Chief Minister Bansilal in the 1970s.
The state government is developing Jyotisar, the birthplace of the Bhagavad Gita, as a major religious tourism site in Kurukshetra.
Haryana Chief Secretary Kaushal said trees on non-forest land were covered under two laws – the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 1994 for rural areas, and the Haryana Urban Development Authority Act 1977 for urban areas.
But environmentalists ThePrint spoke to are of the opinion that these laws are insufficient to provide protection. “Haryana has a forest cover of 3.63 per cent. It is even less than that of Rajasthan (4.87 per cent), which is called a desert state. If Haryana cannot enact strict laws to stop felling of trees, we are definitely heading towards desertification,” said Vaishali Rana Chandra, an environmentalist from Gurugram.
What has been said in the NGT order
In its application, Green Earth asked the Kurukshetra Development Board and the Deputy Commissioner, among others, to issue directions against felling of trees and de-concreting of tree roots at Jyotisar Tirath.
According to the NGO, Haryana’s tourism department and the Kurukshetra Development Board had to cut 24 indigenous trees on April 14 last year – nine of them were Arjun trees, one Banyan, one Neem, eight Siris, two Gulmohar.
In their reply, the Kurukshetra Development Board and the Haryana Tourism Department argued that felling of trees was necessary to provide more facilities for pilgrims and tourists. He also promised to plant “ten times the number of trees to be cut” as compensatory afforestation.
“Compensatory afforestation” is a policy that requires an agency that diverts forest land for non-forest purposes to pay for it by planting a forest on an area equal to the non-forest land, or when such land is not available. land on twice the area of degraded forest.
In its order, the NGT said it is “undisputed that no permission has been granted to cut the trees by any competent authority”.
“The learned counsel for the respondents submitted that there is no regulatory mechanism in Haryana on the lines of the Delhi Tree Preservation Act, 1994, and thus, permission to cut trees outside the forest area is not required,” it further said. “Accordingly, we direct the Chief Secretary, Haryana, to look into the matter and determine, if any regulation exists, within a month. The regulatory mechanism should be followed before cutting the concerned trees.”
‘Destined to become a desert’
Speaking to ThePrint, Kaushal said the state government would devise a mechanism that would “ensure that trees to be planted under compensatory afforestation are duly planted, if felling is allowed”.
But, according to an official of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HSVP) – a body earlier known as the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) – such a provision already exists. Zoning plans require permission from the appropriate estate officer to cut trees in protected woodland areas, officials, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint.
“Where permission is granted, the estate officer, or such other authorized officer, may direct the owner of any site to plant or re-plant (trees),” the official said.
But he acknowledged that while the rules are in place, there is no mechanism to enforce them in full.
“Rules are already in place to prevent felling of trees in non-forest areas, and it is also necessary that those permitted to cut trees for infrastructure projects plant more trees under compensatory afforestation,” he said. ” “But there is no robust mechanism to ensure that the number of trees that a person is required to plant are actually planted and they are alive,” the official added. such a system.
When asked whether the Haryana government is considering enacting a law on the lines of the Delhi Tree Preservation Act, 1994 or the Uttar Pradesh Tree Preservation Act, 1976, Kaushal said the existing provisions are sufficient.
Both the laws are meant to protect trees in non-forest areas. and provides for penalties for violations, which include prison sentences and fines.
But according to environmentalist Chandra, Haryana’s existing laws lack substance and more needs to be done to protect trees in non-forest land. He said that according to the India State of Forest Report 2021, Haryana’s tree cover has decreased from 1,425 in 2019 to 1,565 sq km.
In an effort to protect the state’s forest resources, Haryana formulated its own forest policy in 2006, in which it decided to set a target of achieving 20 percent forest cover in a “phased manner”.
However, this is much less than the National Forest Policy of 1988, which recommended an optimum of 33 per cent cover for plains.
“Haryana’s forest policy already promises much less tree cover than the national policy,” Chandra said. “Moreover, the way trees are being allowed to be cut, the state is definitely set to become a desert in the years to come.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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