[BREAKING] Supreme Court constitutes seven-member expert committee to lay down guidelines on cutting trees for developmental projects

The Supreme Court on Thursday constituted a seven-member committee to develop a set of scientific and policy guidelines that shall govern decision making with respect to cutting of trees for developmental projects (Association for Protection of Democratic Rights v. State of West Bengal). .The order was passed by a Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian in view of climate change as a growing national and international concern..The guidelines may specify the species of trees in categories based upon their environmental values considering the age and girth of the trees etc, the Court said. It may provide special treatment for geographical area or eco-sensitive ares, it added. .“It is imperative to make a realistic assessment of the economic value of a tree, which may be permitted to fell, with reference to its value to environment and its longevity, with regard to factors such as production of oxygen and carbon sequestration, soil conservation, protection of flora/fauna, its role in habitat and ecosystem integrity and any other ecologically relevant factor, distinct from timber/wood,” the order said..The decision came in a petition against Government of West Bengal's decision to fell the trees, in order to construct Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and widen the Roads..The committee will be headed by Dr. MK Ranjitsinh Jhala, a wildlife expert and former Chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India. The following are the other members of the Committee. .(i) Dr. MK Ranjitsinh Jhala, wildlife expert and former Chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India – Chairman of the Committee;(ii) Jigmet Takpa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change- Member Secretary of the Committee;(iii) Arun Singh Rawat, DG, Indian Council for Forestry Research-Member;(iv) Prof. Sandeep Tambe, (Indian Forest Service), currently working as Professor of Forestry at the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal- Member;(v) Gopal Singh Rawat, former Dean and Director, Wildlife Institute of India- Member;(vi) Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh, Director, Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata, an expert in ecological economics- Member and(vii) Pradeep Krishen, Environmentalist- Member..The Court also appointed advocate K Parameshwar as Amicus Curiae to assist the Bench in the case. .The Court directed the committee to discuss and recommend on the following mandate:(a) Develop a set of scientific and policy guidelines that shall govern decision making with respect to cutting of trees for developmental projects.(b) These guidelines may specify the species of trees in categories based upon their environmental values considering the age and girth of the trees etc.(c) The guidelines may provide special treatment for geographical area or eco-sensitive area, they may identify areas which need to be regulated and even identify a minimum threshold beyond which the guidelines will apply.(d) The guidelines shall prescribe a mechanism for assessment of both intrinsic and instrumental value of the trees, based not only on the value of timber, but also the ecosystem services rendered by the trees and its special relevance, if any, to the habitat of other living organisms, soil, flowing and underground water.(e) The guidelines shall also mandate rules regarding alternate routes/sites for roads/projects, and possibilities for using alternate modes of transport like railways or water-ways.(f) The guidelines shall also prescribe the mode of compensation financial and otherwise, the stage of depositing such compensation and the process that governs the computation and recovery. In this regard, the committee may consider the existing regulatory framework regarding calculation of Net Present Value (NPV) and may suggest necessary modification.(g) In addition, the guidelines shall also specify the manner and mechanism of compensatory afforestation to be carried out using the deposited compensation, consistent with the native ecosystem, habitat and species.(h) The Committee may consider the need for any permanent expert body and its proposed structural form.(i) Any other issue incidental to the aforesaid objectives.[Read Order]