The Punjab forest department has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it has no jurisdiction to regulate or penalise the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for cutting trees on land acquired by it, and has contended that there is no statutory requirement for compensatory afforestation on such land.
The DFO was subsequently asked to furnish the original plantation records, details of the species planted and particulars of the felling, after the forest department sought additional time to file a supplementary affidavit. The department’s stand has potentially significant implications for accountability. the latest affidavit effectively draws a line between the forest department’s responsibility for diverted forest land and land subsequently acquired by NHAI While the NGT case concerns the loss of green cover along a national highway. However, the department has drawn a distinction between this forest land and the parcel acquired by NHAI. It has contended that compensatory afforestation is not mandated for land belonging to NHAI under the Forest Conservation Act or any other Forest Act or rules.
The stand comes in a case concerning the felling of plants during construction of a vehicular underpass on the Pathankot-Amritsar stretch of NH-54, where questions have already been raised before the tribunal over the adequacy of the forest department’s earlier data on the trees that were cut. It has also relied on Para 14 of the MoU, which, according to the affidavit, permits NHAI to resume management of the land, or any part of it, at any time without payment of compensation to the forest department. The NGT’s observation that the earlier report did not establish how many of the 2,023 plants had matured before the 1,651 were felled means that the ecological impact had not been fully quantified.
The issue becomes more significant in view of the tribunal’s earlier concern over the distinction between plantations and mature trees.
