To,

Mr  Girkar

Under Secretary,

Urban Development Dept.

Mantralaya

Subject: Amendments to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation and Protection of Trees Act, 1975

Dear Mr Girkar,

   We are a citizen group called Pune Tree Watch (PTW), [1] actively working for the protection and preservation of trees in Pune since july’05 (see www.punetreewatch.org). The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation and Protection Tree Act has been our guiding legislation; and PTW has used the provisions of this Act to save trees wherever possible. The group has also been instrumental in encouraging citizens to be aware and to participate. While the Act has been an important tool to support our mission to save trees, it also has limits which inhibit the spirit of the act itself - provisions that have been made in 1975 do not lend themselves to contemporary times anymore.

Below are some overarching problem areas and guiding principles that the Act needs to incorporate for the future.

F     People’s participation: A very important and unique feature of this Act is that it allows the participation of people in  decisions taken regarding tree cutting. Many citizens get  troubled when they see trees being cut and do make attempts to stop the felling, they however get discouraged by the languid  follow-up process and reciprocity that is lacking any mention in the act per se.

     The provisions, therefore of involving citizens in protection of trees and urban biodiversity,  need to be strengthened. This will ensure that  citizens have a sense of ownership and responsibility to the precious natural resources that urban areas possess.

F     Legal limitations:   The penalties for illegal tree cutting are grossly inadequate and do not Act as deterrent to illegal tree cutting. An example would be that not only is the fine amount very less, the Act does not mention a time frame in which the fine needs to be collected.

F     Biodiversity: Additionally, there is no integration of biodiversity aspects into the Act.  There is also no attention paid to the urban wildlife that depend on trees for habitats, this angle needs to strongly come into the functionality of the act. For example cities through Maharashtra are witnessing the felling of old heritage trees for roads and other development, not a single thought is given to the destruction of wildlife habitat especially bird habitat, and that of the food base.

Recommendations: The Pune Tree Watch group has come up with recommendations based on its experience and understanding of the implementation of Maharashtra Tree Act.  Our city has witnessed unprecedented growth and development which has resulted in substantial  loss of green cover[2], warmer climate and a high level of pollution. 

Given the accelerated pace of urbanization and the environment consequences faced by citizens as a result thereof, we believe that it is extremely important to amend the Act by introducing stricter provisions  and create space for people’s participation.

Please find attached detailed recommendations on the ongoing process of amendments to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation and Protection Tree Act  that we have appended alongside those of the Directorate of the Town Planning and Valuation, Pune. We have highlighted our recommendations in yellow. We are hopeful that your department will consider our response and involve us in the process whole-heartedly in making the amendment a long-term success.

Thanking You

 For Pune Tree Watch

Tasneem Balasinorwala

(Co-ordinator Pune Tree Watch)