STRICTER MONITORING NEEDED FOR PROJECTS THAT DESTROY FORESTS

THE Supreme Court's rebuke to the Maharashtra government over its shoddy record on compensatory afforestation should jolt every state awake.

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It has suspended clearances for Mumbai's infrastructure projects after finding that barely half of the 20,460 saplings planted to replace felled trees had survived. These were trees sacrificed for metro lines and a tunnel slicing under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park a project that quite literally tunnels through the city's lungs. Chief Justice B R Gavai's Bench has now warned the state that even earlier clearances could be withdrawn if credible afforestation plans are not on the table by November 10.