The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Punjab chief secretary and 14 other officials, including deputy commissioner, senior superintendent of police, principal secretary, rural development & panchayat department, following “illegal” felling of approximately 140 green heritage trees in Barnala.
In an order dated March 23, the principal bench, comprising chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert members Dr A Senthil Vel and Dr Afroz Ahmad, took cognisance of a petition alleging that the Improvement Trust, Barnala, used heavy machinery to clear decade-old trees on government land.
The matter arose after an applicant, Gurpreet Singh, alleged that officials of the Improvement Trust, in collusion with other authorities illegally felled about 140 green heritage trees which were aged around 50 years.
A petition alleges that several species, including neem, banyan, and teak, were illegally felled using JCB machines on government land owned by the Barnala Improvement Trust near Phawara Chowk, resulting in significant environmental damage. The plea claims that despite complaints, no action has been taken by the authorities concerned.
Considering the seriousness of the matter the tribunal order said, “We also form a joint committee comprising the representative of the CPCB, RO MoEF&CC, Chandigarh, and the representative of the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Punjab, who will act as the coordinating agency in the joint committee. The committee will visit the site to ascertain the correctness of the allegations made in the OA and also find out the number of trees which have been illegally cut and the persons responsible for the same and will suggest appropriate punitive and remedial measures.”
{{/usCountry}}Considering the seriousness of the matter the tribunal order said, “We also form a joint committee comprising the representative of the CPCB, RO MoEF&CC, Chandigarh, and the representative of the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Punjab, who will act as the coordinating agency in the joint committee. The committee will visit the site to ascertain the correctness of the allegations made in the OA and also find out the number of trees which have been illegally cut and the persons responsible for the same and will suggest appropriate punitive and remedial measures.”
{{/usCountry}}“Let this exercise be completed by the joint committee within a period of four weeks and the report be submitted immediately thereafter,” it added. The matter is now listed for the next hearing on July 3.