Ranchi, Sep 3 The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday stayed the felling of 13,681 trees identified for the construction of a proposed bypass around Chatra town, observing that trees cannot be cut merely in the name of development.
The order was passed by a bench of Justice Ananda Sen while hearing a writ petition filed by Suresh Sao, who had approached the court stating that around 300 trees belonging to him were proposed to be felled for the project.
During the hearing, the court sought details from the state government, which informed it that 13,681 trees had been identified for felling for construction of the bypass.
Expressing concern over large-scale tree felling, the court observed that development should not come at the cost of the environment and described such projects as "developmental disasters".
The court said it was time to consider travelling a few additional miles rather than allowing indiscriminate felling of fully grown trees on a large scale.
"A solution should be found as this is for the future generation. This generation is only the custodian of the environment which has to be passed on to the next generation," the court observed in its order.
The High Court directed the petitioner to implead the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as parties to the case.
The two ministries were directed to file their respective affidavits within six weeks.
As an interim measure, the court ordered that none of the identified trees be felled until further orders.
The court, however, clarified that the agencies concerned would be at liberty to reconsider the alignment of the proposed bypass in view of the large number of trees that would otherwise have to be cut.
