Bench orders NHAI to plant 10 saplings for every tree cut

The Madras High Court bench today ordered the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to plant 10 saplings for every tree cut for the four lane Project by NHAI's Implementation Unit.
Justices Satish K Agnihotri and R Sudhakar gave the direction to NHAI's Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Karur and Karaikudi Project Directors.
The bench ordered that planting should begin on the sides of the highways on February 15 and be completed in six months. The Project directors should file monthly progress reports on the first working day.
The court appointed Advocate T Lajapathi Roy as Amicus Curiae to suggest the types of plants that could be planted by NHAI. Besides, a team of lawyers was constituted to monitor commencement of plantation works in all five PIUs.

The interim direction was given on a PIL filed by one S M Anantha Murugan of Virudhunagar district.
The petitioner said thousands of trees had been cut in the state in the last few years to upgrade National Highways from two to four lanes and alleged that NHAI was focussed on collecting toll rather than compensating for loss of valuable trees.

He sought an interim direction, restraining the officials from collecting the toll.
The judges did not agree with counsel for NHAI, that the officials had already begun planting three saplings for every tree felled by them and said the compensatory quantity should be 10 times the loss, as per the latest Supreme Court ruling.

The Project directors reported they had felled a total of 67,064 trees for road widening work.
The present court direction would require them to plant 6,70,640 saplings, including those that had already been planted, the Judges said.