Taking strong displeasure over Punjab’s low forest cover, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the immediate suspension of all tree-cutting activities across the state, directing that no tree of any species or age shall be cut without prior permission from the Court until further orders.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry expanded the scope of judicial intervention beyond the immediate dispute after taking note of the official data, indicating that Punjab’s forest cover currently stood at approximately 3.67 percent of its total geographical area, a figure that fell below even that of Rajasthan, a predominantly arid state.
Expressing serious concern over the institutional apathy and lack of ecological consciousness on the part of the state authorities, the High Court observed that such statistics reflected a systemic failure of environmental governance. The apparent inertia of the executive machinery in addressing environmental degradation necessitated direct judicial intervention to prevent irreversible ecological harm, warranting the invocation of principles underlying Articles 21, 48A and 51A(g) of the Constitution, it noted.
The interim order was passed on December 24 on a batch of public interest litigations led by Praneet Kaur v. State of Punjab and Others, which raised concerns over large-scale tree felling for infrastructure development in Mohali. The petitioners challenged the administrative decisions permitting the felling of 251 trees in the SAS Nagar district of Mohali to facilitate the construction of roundabouts and traffic rotaries at major intersections.
They contended that the proposed actions violated statutory safeguards under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, and environmental norms evolved through judicial precedent, particularly the doctrines of sustainable development and public trust. The High Court noted that the prohibition extended to all districts of Punjab, irrespective of whether the proposed felling was related to infrastructure projects or other developmental activity.
It directed the Counsel appearing for the state government to communicate the order forthwith to all concerned authorities and listed the matter for further hearing on January 19, indicating that it would examine the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms governing tree felling, compensatory afforestation, and urban planning on the next date of hearing.
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