Bombay High Court Allows Cutting of 21,022 Trees for Transmission Lines in Maharashtra

The Bombay High Court has granted permission for the cutting of 21,022 trees spread across 94.68 hectares of forest land in Maharashtra's Palghar district. This decision allows for the construction of crucial 132-KV DC transmission lines, connecting Dahanu sub-station to Suryanagar, Kavdas, and Jawhar.

The court cited the project's "public purpose" and its status as an "infrastructure project" as key reasons for its approval. The Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (MSETCL) had approached the court because a 2018 order prohibits non-forest activities in and around mangrove areas without prior judicial permission. MSETCL's proposed transmission lines span 80 km, with some segments passing through protected and mangrove forests.

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We are satisfied that the project serves a public purpose and is an infrastructure project.

MSETCL informed the court that while initial surveys suggested barren land in some affected areas, the deputy conservator of forests advised obtaining court permission due to the land's classification as mangrove forest. Advocate General Milind Sathe, representing MSETCL, confirmed that all necessary statutory permissions were secured. He also stated that ₹30.80 crore has been deposited with the forest department to fund compensatory afforestation efforts over 10 years.

The plan includes non-mangrove compensatory afforestation for the 21,022 trees to be felled, to be carried out over 191 hectares of degraded forest land in Solapur district. Additionally, afforestation for the 8.21 hectares of affected mangrove area will occur on 25 hectares of degraded land in North Konkan. The court emphasized that its approval was based on MSETCL's "categorical assurances" that mangrove plantation and compensatory afforestation would be implemented according to law and adequately protected, maintained, and monitored for survival.

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We are inclined to grant the relief sought only because of the categorical assurances...that both the mangrove plantation and the compensatory afforestation shall be undertaken in accordance with law and that the plantations shall thereafter be adequately protected, maintained and monitored...to ensure their survival.