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The court said that until there is a lot of need for harvesting of trees. Real trees can be harvested only when all other conditions including afforestation are complied with.
The Supreme Court has said that trees should not be harvested within 5 kilometers without its permission. The Supreme Court on Thursday reiterated its 2015 instructions to not allow cutting of trees within a 5 km air gap of Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
Court will consider harvesting trees on the recommendation of the committee
A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuiyan said that trees will be harvested in the areas inside the TTZ beyond 5 km of the historic monument, only when the Divisional Forest Officers of the Central Empowered Committee will allow. The court said that until there is a lot of need for harvesting of trees. The divisional forest officer has to tell that the cutting of trees can be done only when the same trees are planted in exchange for it and all other conditions are complied with.
The court asked- whether any additional restrictions were received for the protection of Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri
The bench said that we clarify that the exception will only apply when there is a lot of need to drop trees, in the sense that if the action of dropping trees is not done immediately, there may be a possibility of loss of human life. The court has also sought a report from the CEC, stating whether any additional restrictions should be imposed for the protection of two other world heritage structures called Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.
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