The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Principal Bench, has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report highlighting extensive tree felling across Madhya Pradesh and registered Original Application No. 20/2026.
The action was initiated based on a Dainik Bhaskar report dated January 8, 2026, which claimed that over 15 lakh trees, many aged between 50 and 100 years, have been cut or are proposed to be felled for infrastructure projects such as roads, coal blocks, railways and highways across districts including Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Singrauli, Khandwa, Vidisha and Ujjain.
The Tribunal noted specific instances, including the cutting of 35,000 trees in Singrauli over more than 1,300 hectares of forest land, proposals to fell 5.7 lakh trees in dense forest areas, 1.25 lakh trees for a railway project in Khandwa, and thousands of trees for highway and road-widening projects in Bhopal, Indore–Ujjain and Gwalior. The report also linked the deforestation to deteriorating Air Quality Index (AQI) levels.
A Bench comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava (Chairperson) and Dr. A. Senthil Vel (Expert Member) observed that the matter prima facie indicates violations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, raising substantial environmental concerns.
The NGT impleaded senior authorities including the Director General of Forests, MoEF&CC, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Madhya Pradesh, CPCB, SEIAA, Madhya Pradesh, and the Integrated Regional Office of MoEF&CC, Bhopal, and directed them to file their responses by affidavit.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 9, 2026.
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI Click here