Factor in cost of oxygen produced by trees in project cost before felling trees: CJI Bobde

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said on Thursday trees must be felled only as a last resort while clearing the land for big projects and that the contribution of full-grown trees as powerhouses of oxygen should be taken into account.

“What is the value of the oxygen that a tree gives in a lifetime? That is a cost that is ignored. It must be factored in,” said the CJI, sitting alongside justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant. He was responding to concerns raised by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who said that global warming would cause temperatures to shoot up by seven degrees in another 50 years, wiping out mankind, if ecological devastation continues.

The CJI said the ecological cost of cutting a tree and delayed execution of a project can be weighed against each other, flagging the development-ecology dilemma in every other big project such as the Aarey metro car shed, Bombay Coastal Zone Road and a road project in Kolkata that is facing opposition as it involves felling of “heritage” trees. Citing experts, the CJI slammed the cutting down of 4,000 trees in Nagpur to make a road. In this context, he also referred to the population pressure which necessitated creation of more and more infrastructure, leading to further dwindling of the green cover.


Bhushan argued that full-grown mature trees also absorb carbon dioxide. He alleged that projects are cleared mechanically, allowing huge trees to be cut only to be replaced by the odd sapling which more often than not doesn’t survive.

He cited the instance of a road in Jessore, West Bengal, where the authorities had proposed cutting down 4,000 heritage trees on both sides of the road ostensibly to prevent accidents at the site.