NGT Issues Notices Over Alleged Disappearance of 6 Million Trees

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the forest departments of Maharashtra, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh regarding the alleged disappearance of 6 million trees from farmlands between 2019 and 2022.

A bench of Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, and expert member Dr. A Senthil Vel observed that significant tree loss was noted, particularly in Telangana and Maharashtra.

The green tribunal took suo motu cognizance of the issue based on an article in a newspaper titled, ‘Nearly 6 million trees disappeared from farmlands: study.’

According to the article, between 2018 and 2020, the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, especially around Indore, experienced substantial tree loss and the disappearance of mature farmlands.

It recorded that in Telangana and Maharashtra, several hotspot areas had lost up to 50% of their large farmland trees, with up to 22 trees per square kilometer disappearing. It also noted smaller hotspot areas of loss around Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

The NGT said that the article indicated violations of the Environment Protection Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act, and accordingly, issued notices to the MoEFCC and the Principal Chief Conservators of Forests in all three states. The matter will be heard along with another case involving the broader issue of encroachment in the country on July 31, 2024.

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