In a striking move, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has raised alarms over the vanishing act of six million trees from farmlands across India, spotlighting Telangana and Maharashtra. This environmental whodunit sees the Tribunal demanding answers from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the forest departments of Maharashtra, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh.
With Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, and expert member Dr. A Senthil Vel at the helm, the Tribunal noted the colossal arboreal losses, particularly in Telangana and Maharashtra. Their order, dated July 4, underscores the severity: “The disappearance of mature farmland trees was observed in many areas, but numbers rarely exceed five to 10%, except for areas in central India, in particular in the States of Telangana and Maharashtra, where massive loss of large trees was observed.”
The case, sparked by an eye-opening article in The Hindu titled “Nearly 6 million trees disappeared from farmlands: study,” alleges that from 2018 to 2020, these states experienced an alarming depletion of their mature tree populations, notably around Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Telangana and Maharashtra saw hotspots where up to 50% of their large farmland trees vanished, with a shocking 22 trees per square kilometre disappearing.
Highlighting potential breaches of the Environment Protection Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act, the NGT’s notices to MoEF and the Principal Chief Conservators of Forest aim to address this green crisis. The Tribunal plans to convene on July 31 to deliberate on this matter alongside a broader issue of encroachment across the country.
The echo of these lost canopies resonates deeply, urging swift action to halt the silent deforestation spreading across India’s farmlands.
