Bombay High Court tells BMC to reconsider order over tree trimming

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to reconsider its blanket order to private entities - including Tata Power House, Reliance Energy, Airport Authority of India, and railway authorities – regarding trimming trees on their premises.

A bench of Justices A.S. Oka and R.I. Chagla was hearing an application filed by city-based activist Zoru Bathena, challenging the BMC’s decision to allow some public and private entities like Tata Power House, Reliance Energy, Airport Authority of India, and railway authorities to trim trees on their premises for the next three years. The petitioner also alleged that under the pretext of trimming, trees in the city were being axed.

On Tuesday, the court asked BMC on what basis it had granted such blanket permissions without any condition for determining whether these agencies were adhering to the provisions of the Trees Act and the civic body’s own rules.

Senior counsel Anil Sakhare, who appeared for the BMC, told the court that the corporation’s decision was well within its powers and that the permission was not for felling trees but for trimming and pruning them which was essential for their maintenance.

Advocate Sakhre further argued that under section 383 of the Municipal Act, the corporation had the power to allow trimming and pruning of trees for their maintenance or in cases where trees had overgrown or damaged branches posing a threat to life and property.

However, the bench said that such permission could be granted only after the municipal commissioner was convinced that the respective trees required trimming.