The bench observed it was only concerned with how a large number of trees were felled without the permission of the competent authority and how bulldozers were used for erasing the 100-acre area.”If you wanted to construct, you should have followed the procedure, got requisite permissions,” it said, adding, “We are only concerned with the damage done to the environment.”Highlighting the importance of sustainable development and protection of the environment, the bench said that even for important projects like the Chardham project in Uttarakhand, the Centre had to fight for years in court.”Let there be green lungs in the city like we have in Bombay, Chennai and Jaipur,” Justice Gavai observed.At the outset, Singhvi told the bench that the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has filed a voluminous report in the matter and the state needed some time to respond to it.The bench granted four weeks to Telangana to file its response to the CEC’s report and posted the matter for the next hearing on May 15.”In the meantime, not a single more tree would be felled there,” the bench orally said.The bench asked whether the state had the permission of the tree authority for the felling of trees.”Yes, except for a small number of trees…,” Singhvi replied.
Source link
