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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on September 15, 2025, directed concerned authorities to place on record the order of the Tree Officer granting permission for felling 4,105 trees to construct the Kolar Six Lane Road in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal district.
The court also directed the authorities to disclose the amount, if any, deposited by the executing agency responsible for the compensatory plantation, the number of trees which have been planted for compensatory plantation and the surviving number of trees.
The joint committee appointed by the NGT made some recommendations. One among them was that if road construction is to be done beyond 14.200 kilometres (km), necessary approval under the provision of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 will have to be taken after joint inspection with the concerned forest department for the remaining length.
Further, the forest department should carry out the necessary plantation for compensatory afforestation from the deposited amount, within an aerial distance of five km of the constructed road.
“Since necessary approval was not taken for the felling of 4,105 trees, the state government should take necessary action in this regard as per the prevailing rules and guidelines,” the joint committee report said.
In addition, although the Public Works Department (PWD) has felled 4,105 trees/shrubs without having necessary permission, it is necessary to inquire whether any action has been taken by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the same.
The report of the joint committee clearly suggested that 4,105 trees/shrubs were felled without obtaining the necessary permission by the PWD Department, the court noted.
The NGT’s central zone directed the Tree Officer to inform whether any trees have been cut in violation of the rules.
The NGT directed the municipal corporation of Bhilwara in Rajasthan on September 15, 2025, to place on record the timelines by which the discharge of untreated sewage into the Gandhi Sagar Lake will be fully stopped.
The corporation informed the court that almost 75 per cent of discharge of untreated sewage in the Gandhi Sagar Lake, commonly known as Gandhi Sagar Talab in Bhilwara, has been stopped and discharge of the remaining 25 per cent untreated sewage will also be stopped by March 2026.
This means that discharge of untreated sewage in the water body will continue till March 2026, the court observed.
The matter of discharge of untreated water into Bhoj wetland and encroachment of the water body has been pending for more than five years but authorities have failed to take action according to rules, the NGT observed on September 16, 2025.
In spite of repeated orders, the encroachments have not been removed and there is continuous discharge of untreated water into the water bodies, said Justice Sheo Kumar Singh.
“The Gap analysis of more than 130 MLD in the capacity of treatment has not been properly addressed,” the court said.
The NGT on September 16, 2025, directed that on the next date of hearing (October 8, 2025), the BMC commissioner and the Bhopal collector should remain present to participate in proceedings with all the data and the action taken in compliance of the orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court, so that the matter is expedited.