VIJAYAWADA: The High Court on Friday directed the State government to set up a committee to prevent indiscriminate tree cutting in the name of development, and explore the possibility of translocation of trees in unavoidable circumstances.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Asmad Mohammad Shaikh Sha, a medical student of Guntur, seeking HC’s directions to the authorities on trees’ translocation, instead of cutting them for road widening and other development works, a bench of Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Cheemalapati Ravi, directed Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad to come up with a policy on trees’ translocation, and opined that indiscriminate cutting of trees in the name of development had become a major threat. Officials told not to come up with excuses for not implementing its instructions citing non-availability of machinery and its prohibitive cost. “Experts should be included in the panel, and the court will take the committee’s suggestions into consideration,” the bench said. The matter was posted to March 12, 2025.