Bombay high court: Justify felling 2,400 trees for Kumbh Mela

The Bombay high court on Wednesday asked the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) to justify felling 2,400 trees for road widening before the Kumbh Mela in 2015.

The HC was hearing an application filed by the NMC seeking permission to fell the trees.

"Why are you cutting 100 year old trees for a religious function?" asked a division bench of judges Abhay Oka and Ajey Gadkari.

VA Gangal, counsel for NMC, argued that they had to widen the roads to provide better facilities to the devotees who will throng the city in 2015 during the Kumbh Mela.

Not convinced, the judges said that the NMC should provide better justification for felling of trees. The judges noted that it would adversely impact the environment. "Environmental protection is everyone's duty. You (NMC) will also have to satisfy us that the harm caused will be repaired," said justice Oka.

Nashik Nagrik Kruti Samiti, which had initially filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking preservation of trees in Nashik said that if the felling were to be allowed, the NMC should plant three trees for every single tree felled.
The HC has asked the NMC to file an additional affidavit by December 17 justifying the tree-cutting and also assuring the court that the environmental damage caused will be repaired.

Kumbh Mela, which takes place once in 12 years, is at Nashik from August 2015. Last time, in 2003, over 60 lakh people had participated in the kumbh mela. This year, over 1 crore are expected.