The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, aims to regulate felling of trees and provide for planting of an adequate number of new trees in urban areas.

The Act is available at this  Link. 

A summary of the key sections is set out below.

Section 8(1) states that notwithstanding any custom, usage, contract or law for the time being in force, no person shall fell any tree in an urban area, except with the previous permission of the Tree Officer. It does not matter if the land on which the tree stands is owned by him or someone else.

The next section 8(2) adds that if any person, including on officer of the urban local authority, State Government or the Central Government proposes to fell a tree, he shall apply in writing to the Tree Authority for permission.

The application shall be accompanied by the description of the tree, a site plan, indicate the position of the tree required to be felled and the reasons for it.

Section 8(3) (a) describes how the Tree Authority will take a decision on such applications. First the Tree Authority shall cause the Tree Officer to personally inspect the tree, hold enquiry and submit a report to the Tree Authority within a period of thirty days from the receipt of the application.

Adequate public notice shall be given by the Tree Officer by advertising in local newspapers as well as by affixing a notice on a conspicuous part of the tree that is required to be felled.

Thereafter, the Tree Authority may give permission with or without conditions, or refuse it, within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of the application. However, no tree shall be felled until fifteen days after such permission is given.

Finally, no permission shall be refused if, in the opinion of the Tree Authority, the tree is dead, or diseased or wind fallen, or it constitutes a danger to life or property, or obstructs traffic; and if any objection is received against such permission, the latter shall be placed before the Tree Authority for reconsideration, and a decision shall be taken within two weeks after giving a hearing to the person who has raised the objection.

In spirit the Act’s aims to protect trees in urban areas. The Tree Authority, which is established by this Act, has come under criticism from environmentalists. A former member of the Mumbai Tree Authority has gone on record, saying that it is a body that merely legitimizes cutting of thousands of trees in the city and does little to protect them.

In April 2012, in a single sitting it went over 37 proposals to cut trees and approved nearly 580 for felling. It appears impossible that in such little time there was adequate application of mind as to the merits of felling or preserving these trees. The authority meets once a month and in the following month it approved cutting of another 800 trees. The authority’s constitution provides for a larger representation of people whose interests lie in clearing trees for developmental works than pro-actively taking measures to protect them. The authority also does not have publicly verifiable or audited records of the number of trees it has successfully planted.

Telephone numbers and contact details of the Ward Offices of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai are available at this  Link.