Meghalaya HC directs govt not to fell trees

The Meghalaya High Court has ordered the state government to stop felling of more trees till further orders.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice V P Vaish gave the direction, while hearing a plea filed by a lawyer.
The bench also ordered yesterday that if any particular tree was in a such a condition that its cutting was necessary, it should be informed to the court in the form of an affidavit by the forest officer concerned.
The state government has began an exercise to cut trees and identified 550 trees in Shillong which are reportedly posing threat to public life.

Government advocate P Agarwal said a tree on the Raj Bhavan premises was not found to be of any concern during a survey in June, but it fell during rains causing death to three people on August 12.
The petitioner, however, submitted that a tree in the vicinity of the high court had been cut on August 15 though it was not posing any threat.
The matter will come up again for hearing on August 23.