Over 4,100 Trees In Nagpur Found Choked, Just 1,100 Freed So Far: NMC to HC
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Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Thursday informed the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court that over 4,147 trees across the city were found choked by concrete, but only 1,104 were de-choked so far despite directives and multiple agency involvement.
The data was submitted during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL No. 39/2024) filed by environmental activists Sharad Patil, Prachi Mahurkar, Yash Netke, and Preeti Patel through counsel Radhika Bajaj. As per petitioners, while executing road improvement projects, the work of concretisation by cement, asphalt, or bitumen is choking roots of trees. They claimed though administrative instructions are issued to the contractors and subordinate officers to ensure removal of concrete, asphalt, or bitumen near trees, effective steps are not being taken by respondents.
NMC counsel Jemini Kasat submitted the affidavit and minutes of meetings with agencies such as NHAI, NIT, and PWD, confirming the extent of choking and partial progress on relief efforts. Kasat told the court two experts—Kaustav Chatterjee of Green Vigil Foundation and Dilip Chinchmalatpure—were included in official de-choking panel as per court's earlier order. The panel has begun conducting site visits to verify work and shared technical recommendations, including removing concrete as per Urban Green Guidelines 2014, ensuring soil aeration, and protecting root systems.
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"The experts delivered a presentation on best practices and are expected to submit their assessments during the next review," Kasat said, adding that officials from PWD and NHAI have also been included for effective implementation on the ground. The petitioners objected to their exclusion from committee despite prior experience in tree conservation. The bench, comprising Justices Nitin Sambre and Sachin Deshmukh, questioned the civic body on this omission.
NMC also submitted various govt departments have started following the 2014 Urban Green Guidelines and cited ongoing environmental audits by NEERI. Kasat informed the court Environment Status Reports (ESR) for the years 2017–18 to 2023–24 (barring 2021–22 due to the pandemic) were prepared scientifically by NEERI and submitted. The 2024–25 ESR is currently under preparation.
The division bench gave time to file compliance documents, directing the finalised ESR for 2024–25 to be submitted by July 1, and adjourned the matter to July 9.
The PIL highlights the alarming decline in Nagpur's green cover, which decreased from 31 percent in 1999 to a mere 21 percent in 2018, as per a study conducted by ISRO's Regional Remote Sensing Centre in 2019. The petitioners attribute this drastic reduction to the rapid expansion of urban infrastructure projects, which have adversely affected the city's once-abundant greenery.
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