BMC allowing indiscriminate felling of trees: Activist to HC

A city-based activist has moved the Bombay High Court alleging that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been permitting indiscriminate felling of trees across the metropolis in the name of pruning and trimming them ahead of monsoons.

Activist Zoru Bhatena has sought directions that the civic body be restrained from carrying out itself, or allowing residents to undertake such "trimming" and "hacking" of trees.

In his plea, mentioned before a division bench of Justices A S Oka and R I Chagla today, the activist highlighted recent news reports according to which, the BMC granted "blanket permission" to nine public and private bodies to trim trees on their premises for the next three years.

Bhatena has urged the bench to stay such permissions and to direct the BMC to trim or fell trees only in accordance with the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees (Amendment) Act.

He has also urged the court to ensure that permissions for trimming and pruning of healthy trees be given only by the civic body's Tree Authority and not by individual officers from the department concerned.

The bench is likely to hear the contentions made in the plea in detail on June 12, along with a main Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Bhatena.

The main PIL was filed earlier this year challenging the provisions of the Trees Act that empower the municipal commissioner to sanction felling of up to 25 trees, while applications for cutting more than 25 trees go before the Tree Authority.

On the PIL, the HC in April had observed that the civic body had been exercising it's powers arbitrarily in sanctioning felling of trees.

The court had told the BMC to grant such permissions only after consulting experts and getting their opinion in each case.