Supreme Court orders comprehensive tree census in Taj Trapezium Zone

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Taj Trapezium Zone authority to appoint Forest Research Institute to carry out a tree census in the area.

A bench of Justices Abhay Oka and N Kotiswar Singh said penal provisions against violators couldn’t be implemented sans data of existing trees.

The TTZ, an area of 10,400 square-kilometre approximately, spreads across Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras, and Etah districts in UP and Bharatpur district in Rajasthan.

“This data can be made available through tree census. We direct TTZ authority to appoint Forest Research Institute at Dehradun as an authority to carry out tree census of all existing trees in the area of TTZ. The formal order shall be passed within a week,” the bench said.

The apex court said the object of the UP Protection of Trees Act, 1976 was to protect the trees and not to fell or cut the trees.

Without a tree census there cannot be any effective implementation of the provisions of 1976 Act, it added.

The top court had previously outlined the need for a census of existing trees and a mechanism to keep a vigil to ensure trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) were not illegally felled.

The bench was hearing a plea over the unauthorised felling of trees in the TTZ when it said the census of existing trees in the area was required to check any illegal felling.

“Prima facie, we are of the view that there needs to be a census of existing trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone and there needs to be a mechanism for keeping a vigil for ensuring that there is no unauthorised felling of trees,” it had said.

The plea raises environmental concerns and underlines the need of preservation of historical monuments, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site The Taj Mahal, and its surrounding areas.

While hearing a separate plea in the matter on October 14, the top court said it would order demolition and restore the land or the highways to its original status, if its direction over compulsory afforestation in the TTZ was not complied with by the authorities.