SC permits Railways to fell 452 trees in TTZ for additional track between Delhi-Agra

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 11

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Northern Railways to fell 452 trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) for construction of an additional rail track between Delhi and Agra subject to mandatory compensatory afforestation.

TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

Known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Taj Mahal was built between 1632 and 1653 at Agra by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

She had died in 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child. The top court has been monitoring the issue since the 1980s.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said it would monitor the afforestation to be undertaken by the Railways and directed National Legal Service Authority of India (NALSA) Member Secretary to appoint a person to visit the tree plantation sites regularly and file reports.

“We want a report on (plantation of saplings) in every three months updating on the conditions of the saplings, whether they have died or are alive and whether they are properly watered or not,” it said.

The Railways had sought permission to fell 452 trees under TTZ for its railway project between Mathura and Palwal.

The order comes five days after the top court lifted its March 2018 stay on all construction and industrial activities in TTZ and allowed basic amenities, non-polluting activities around the Taj Mahal with permission from the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee.

It also asked environmentalist Mehta and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute to inspect Agra city and file a report in eight weeks suggesting measures to deal with the problem of overflowing of drains.