Punjab: Punjab’s green cover is steadily declining despite claims of massive tree plantations made by the government over the last several decades. If media reports are to be believed, the number of saplings planted by government and non-government organisations has crossed tens of millions, yet the region has no forest cover to be proud of. Poor survival rate of the saplings planted, lack of strict laws against illegal felling of trees and failure of municipal bodies to maintain accurate data on tree cover, all have contributed to the rapid loss of Punjab’s green cover. Indiscriminate felling of trees in the guise of development and modernisation and lack of enthusiasm among environmentalists have pushed the region towards becoming a desert. Realising the gravity of the situation, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken note of Punjab’s rapidly declining green cover. Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha has recently accepted the state’s responsibility to protect trees on all types of land. While hearing a complaint of illegal felling of trees in a residential colony in Jalandhar, the NGT bench of Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member Dr A. Senthil Vel directed the Punjab chief secretary to address the deficiencies in the state’s tree protection policies, especially with regard to private land. The tribunal examined the Tree Protection Policy for Non-Forest Government and Public Land, 2024 and found that it failed to protect trees on private property. A senior government official, who appeared virtually before the tribunal, admitted that Punjab lacked a robust legal framework to prevent and penalise felling of trees. He also admitted that municipal bodies did not maintain proper records of tree cover under their jurisdiction. Environmentalists argue that community-led social forestry initiatives could have compensated for the inevitable loss of trees found on roadsides, canal banks and public lands. “People fail to recognise the important role of trees in sustaining life,” said environmentalist Rajan Sharma. “Instead of keeping the saplings alive in protected areas, many hold media-centric events that focus on distribution rather than conservation.” Forest department official Karamjit Singh lamented that self-styled environmentalists have wasted lakhs of saplings under the pretext of Van Maha Utsav while they want to draw people’s attention to themselves. “Governments have been providing free saplings for years, but many of them are given to guests at social gatherings rather than being planted carefully,” Singh said. He recalled that during his tenure at Jandali Nursery, he had distributed lakhs of saplings under various tree plantation schemes. Meanwhile, district forest officer Monika Yadav refused to comment on the issue or on plans to improve forest area in the area. Sources revealed that religious groups, social organisations, medical institutions and corporate entities have collectively claimed to have planted crores of saplings across the state under CSR projects. However, the disparity between the saplings planted on paper and the actual tree area calls for urgent measures to ensure survival and sustainability.
Punjab: Despite efforts, Punjab’s green cover is decreasing
