Cutting a large number of trees is worse than killing human beings, the Supreme Court of India has said, while fining a man Rs 1 lakh for each illegally cut tree, on March 25, 2025.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan made the observation while rejecting the plea of a man who had chopped down 454 trees in the protected Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ). The bench said that there should be no mercy in environmental case. Felling a large number of trees is worse than killing a human. The top court said it will take at least 100 years minimum to again regenerate or recreate the green cover created by 454 trees which were blatantly cut without permission.
The Court accepted the report of the central empowered committee (CEC), which recommended a fine of Rs 1 lakh per tree for cutting 454 trees in Dalmia Farms in Mathura-Vrindavan by Shiv Shankar Agarwal. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Agarwal, submitted that he has admitted the mistake but the court refused to reduce the fine amount. The court said Agarwal should be allowed to do plantations at a nearby site and the contempt plea filed against him will be disposed only after compliance. The top court had in December 2024 issued contempt notice to Agarwal, who in his affidavit admitted to the act and submitted an unconditional apology.
The Supreme court also recalled its 2019 order which had removed the requirement of obtaining prior permission to cut trees on non-forest and private lands within the TTZ.
Lack of Clarity on Agro-Forestry
The Court noted that the application lacked clarity on the meaning and concept of agro-forestry. Although the plea sought directions to promote agro-forestry, the applicant also sought removal of the requirement to obtain mandatory prior Court approval for felling trees on non-forest/private lands within the TTZ. The Court remarked that it might have been misled to believe the modification request was limited to agro-forestry.
The Court also directed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to submit a report withing a month clarifying the meaning of agro-forestry and giving recommendations regarding the request to promote it.
The National Agroforestry Policy of India is a comprehensive policy framework designed to improve agricultural livelihoods by maximizing agricultural productivity for mitigating climate change. The central government launched the policy in February 2014 during the World Congress on Agroforestry held in Delhi. India became the first country in the world to adopt the policy which aims to improve productivity and environmental sustainability by integrating trees, crops, and livestock into the same plot of land.
Severe Decline in Large Farmland Trees in a Decade
A research has found that millions of large trees across Indian farms vanished in the decade between 2010 and 2022. The paper, Severe decline in large farmland trees in India over the past decade published in the journal Nature Sustainability, analysed satellite imagery from 2010 to 2022. The study says:
- Researchers mapped 600 million farmland trees in 2010-11 About 11% of those trees disappeared by 2018
- Between 2018 and 2022, another 5 million trees disappeared
- The farmlands in many regions lost up to half of their large trees
- Rise in paddy cultivation due to increased availability of borewell water led to this
- Little evidence to attribute this disappearance to climate change
- Regions in central India, particularly Maharashtra and Telangana identified as hotspots for tree disappearance, losing nearly 2.5 million trees between 2011 and 2018
- Satellite data shows the phenomenon is relevant across Indian croplands, reflecting national-scale thinning of large farmland trees in a short period.
- The study found that some regions lost up to 50 trees per square kilometre
The researchers also conducted interviews with villagers from Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir and Jammu. The participants verified the considerable reduction in the populations of mature trees within and along fields.
These trees were removed owing predominantly to alterations in the cultivation practices. The main reason for removing the trees is establishing new boreholes resulting in an augmented water supply. This facilitates the expansion of paddy fields. The trees within fields are often removed thinking their benefits are relatively low and concerns that their shading effect may adversely affect the crop yields.
The data is disturbing given that agroforests play a crucial role in providing socio ecological benefits and are a potential climate solution as a carbon sink. Agroforest trees in India are remnant trees from forests cleared for agricultural use. They not only offer shade, soil fertilisation and other benefits to the land but also provide fruits, fuelwood, sap, medicine, mulch, fibre, fodder and wood for animal and human use.
Stand For Trees
- On March 26, 2025, the Supreme Court approved the Forest Research Institute’s plan to conduct the first tree census in Delhi. The initiative aims to track tree populations and prevent illegal felling.
- On March 3, 2025, hundreds of residents of Dehradun in Uttarakhand gathered to hold a protest march against the proposed felling of 28,000 trees in and around the state capital for upcoming infrastructure projects and to demand sustainable development. This was the second such protest after the launch of the ‘Paryavaran Bachao Andolan’ in June2024 against rampant tree cutting.
- The National Green Tribunal took a strong stance against the Uttar Pradesh government, directing the chief secretary to investigate allegations of illegal tree felling of over 17,000 trees for the proposed Kanwar Marg project between Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and Purkaji, near Uttarakhand. The government was planning to cut 1,12,722 trees for the proposed route between Muradnagar in Ghaziabad and Purkazi in Muzaffarnagar. A report was submitted by the Forest Survey of India’s joint director alleging that trees were cut down beyond the permitted 20-meter stretch.
- In August 2024, Maharashtra government decided to increase the penalty for felling trees without permission to ₹50,000 from ₹1,000. According to the forest department’s data, as many as 60,158 trees were felled in non-forest areas without permission in the last five years. The state government has set a target of expanding its forest cover from the existing 19-20% to 33%.
- In January 2019, Calcutta High Court directed one Soumitra Kanti Dey to pay a penalty of Rs 40 crore and also plant 100 trees for illegally cutting 62 trees in the guise of removing stagnant water.
William Wordsworth rightly said, “This solitary Tree! a living thing produced too slowly ever to decay; of form and aspect too magnificent to be destroyed.”
