SC panel halts tree cutting

Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee orders immediate halt to all tree felling and construction along the Mula, Mutha

- Indu Bhagat

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra government to immediately stop all tree felling and construction activity along the Mula, Mutha, Mula-Mutha, Pavana and Indrayani rivers, citing violations of the apex court’s orders on forest protection.

The committee's intervention followed a complaint from the Jeevitnadi Living River Foundation, a nonprofit working to revive the Mula and Mutha rivers, which alerted the CEC to ongoing plans for large-scale tree cutting in riparian forest zones despite clear Supreme Court directives.