Now, the local tree committee can take the decision on the fate of trees in its jurisdiction without referring matters to the State Tree Authority. The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a bill, on Friday, that empowers local tree committees to allow felling of all types of trees. The bill is an amendment of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. The bill is yet to be passed by the Legislative Council. Under the existing law, the applications for cutting down more than two hundred trees, which are five years or older, and also heritage trees, are referred by the local (municipal) tree committee to the Maharashtra State Tree Authority (MSTA). After this amendment, the local tree authorities can now grant permission on their own, in all cases.

 

While introducing the bill, the Government said that facilitating the ease of doing business is one of the best ways to promote development and attract investors. During the debate on the bill, BJP MLAs Ashish Shelar, Atul Bhatkhalkar and Ameet Satam slammed Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA and former Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray for enacting the previous amendment to the Act and forming the State Tree Authority. They also accused the Shiv Sena (UBT) of opposing all development projects. Thackeray pointed out that the State Tree Authority’s mandate was to identify heritage trees and ascertain if there was a need to cut them, to what extent trees should be felled, and how much compensation should be paid. “There can be ease of doing business only if there is ease of living,” Thackeray said. There should be a balance between development and environmental protection, he added. In the Assembly, Congress MLAs Prithviraj Chavan, Varsha Gaikwad and Nana Patole stressed the need for sustainable development while protecting the environment. After getting the information about the new bill, the environment experts and activists of the city called it unfortunate decision and it will lead to mass tree felling all over the state.