Panaji : The High Court of Bombay at Goa has suggested the constitution of a committee to oversee replantation and survival of trees cut for road widening and highway works.
Senior Counsel Norma Alvares, appearing for petitioners Aaron Victor e Fernandes and others proposed that the committee include officials from the Public Works Department, Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), Planning Department, and Forest Department.
He argued that a long-term programme is needed to ensure replantation and survival, rather than treating it as a formality involving contractor payments.
Alvares submitted that experts and officials should verify whether heritage trees are replanted or replaced with appropriate species, and whether they survive for a number of years to maintain tree cover in cities and adjoining areas.
“We expect Alvares, along with the Advocate General, to suggest us the via media that under our direction which constitute a committee that should take care of this issue for over a length of time and specifically as far as the work of road widening/highways is ongoing in the state,” the High Court said.
The court noted that while the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) had entrusted plantation to the state government, “the real anxiety is that when big heritage trees are cut and directed to be replanted, who will supervise the activities of replantation and survival rate of these trees, apart from the aspect whether the trees are replanted at appropriate place or whether the species that are planted are the species which would grow big trees or merely small shrubs.”
