Trees Act still awaits proper regulation
TNN 11 November 2009, 04:52am IST
PUNE: More than a year has passed since the Bombay high court directed
the state government to frame rules for effective enforcement of the
Maharashtra (urban areas) Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.
In reply to an RTI application made by a city-based activist, the
state government has admitted that it has not framed the rules yet but
will do so before the winter session of the assembly.
Tree activists have been demanding that the rules be properly framed
since the Act only lays down broad guidelines for preserving trees and
each municipal body in the state has framed its own rules at the local
level.
In 2007, city-based environment activists Ajay Vaishampayan and Vinod
Jain had filed a writ petition pointing out that there are no rules
governing the Act, despite it being in force for more than three
decades.
"There is rampant cutting of trees under the name of development of
roads and other construction, without observation of any rules that
are uniform for the entire state," the petition had said. It also
pointed out that the state government should form a state tree
authority, which will have experts on the board. "This authority
should also look into appeals so that the decisions taken by the Pune
Tree Authority (PTA) can be challenged at a higher level. Right now,
nobody questions the decisions taken by the PTA and that's harmful for
the city, especially with the kind of tree-cutting activities going
on," the petition had said.
In April 2008, the HC had directed the state government to frame the
rules within six months.
The state did seek suggestions from different municipal bodies for the
set of rules, but they have not been formulated till date.
Jain had then filed an RTI application to find out the status of the
rules. In a reply to the application, the state information secretary
has said, "The draft rules under Maharashtra (urban areas)
Preservation of Trees Act, 1975 have not been approved by both the
houses. We plan to table it before the legislative assembly and
legislative council during the winter session. The rules will come
into force once both the houses pass it. This information has been
conveyed to the HC."
A civic garden department official said that currently every municipal
body has framed its own rules. For eg, the PMC has a rule that for
every tree cut, three trees should planted in exchange. Similarly the
deposit amount to be collected from applicants who want to cut trees
is Rs 10,000.
"However, these rules may be different for different cities. Some
cities may not even have such rules. The Tree Act is a bare act
because it has no detailed rules. The guidelines are of a general
manner. It will be a good thing once the rules are framed. We have
sent our report to the state government after seeking suggestions from
citizens and experts," the official said.
Speaking to TOI, Jain said that activists have been pushing for this
case for a long time and is high time that the state framed rules
because the entire process for giving tree-cutting permission in Pune
is in a mess.
@i$#w@ry@!
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