Gurgaon: Haryana govt has proposed an act to regulate the felling of trees on non-forest land across the state. Provisions require 10 trees to be planted for every tree cut with permission and prescribe a penalty of Rs 10,000 per tree for violations, along with environmental compensation. The draft Haryana Preservation of Trees Act, 2026 also proposes a minimum three-month jail term for failure to deposit the prescribed penalty and compensation.In an affidavit filed before National Green Tribunal (NGT), chief secretary Anurag Rastogi said the draft was presented to the forest minister at a meeting on Aug 18, following which changes were incorporated. The principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) forwarded the revised proposal to the state govt on Sept 8 for further action.The affidavit was filed in response to the tribunal’s Aug 11, 2026 order directing the chief secretary to disclose the steps taken towards enactment of a tree preservation law. The state govt had constituted a committee on June 5, 2025 to finalise the proposed regulatory framework for tree felling in non-forest areas. Forest and wildlife areas covered by the relevant forest and wildlife laws are excluded from its proposed scope.NGT is scheduled to take up the matter on Oct 30, when the state’s response and the status of the proposed regulatory framework may come under further scrutiny. The legislation will undergo the approval process, public consultation or be placed before the state assembly. The final legislation will be published in the official gazette after assembly approval.The draft provides for applications through the Forest and Wildlife Department’s online portal on the Haryana e-Seva platform. A tree officer would have 30 days to decide an application for tree felling and three days for an application concerning a fallen green tree. If no decision is taken within the stipulated period, the application would be automatically forwarded to the appellate authority. An applicant aggrieved by the decision could also make a representation to the appellate authority within 30 days.One of the key provisions in the draft is compensatory plantation. Anyone granted permission to fell, cut, remove or dispose of a green tree would be required to plant 10 trees through the forest department for every tree removed, as far as possible in the same district. Instead of undertaking the plantation directly, the applicant would have to deposit the prescribed amount in a Compensatory Tree Plantation Fund, calculated according to the forest department’s existing cost norms for plantation and maintenance for five years. The draft exempts specified permissions for pruning from mandatory compensatory plantation.For unauthorised felling or causing irreparable damage to a standing green tree, the draft prescribes a penalty of Rs 10,000 per tree, in addition to environmental compensation equivalent to 20 times the cost of compensatory plantation and five years of maintenance under the forest department’s norms. It proposes a minimum of three months’ imprisonment for failure to deposit the penalty and environmental compensation.The draft also empowers the authorities to seize tools, implements, vehicles and other conveyances allegedly used in an offence, along with the tree or part of it that has been cut. It provides for compounding certain offences through payment of the prescribed penalty and environmental compensation.The draft proposes to extend tree-felling regulation to non-forest areas throughout Haryana, including areas notified under Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, where tree felling is already regulated. Delhi, in contrast, has had Delhi Preservation of Trees Act since Oct 12, 1994 to regulate the felling and removal of trees.According to Forest Survey of India 2021, Haryana’s tree cover was reduced by 140 sq km. Tree cover is defined as all tree patches of a size less than one hectare occurring outside of the recorded forest area. In Haryana, the tree cover for the 2021 assessment was 1,425 sq km, which was 1,565 sq km in 2019.The affidavit, filed on Oct 19 in a matter of Vaishali Rana and others versus State of Haryana and others, outlines the steps taken to formulate the legislation and reports action initiated over unauthorised cutting of branches at Eldeco in Panipat, where 103 little egret chicks were reported to have been affected.According to the affidavit, the process of formulating the proposed legislation began with a stakeholders’ consultation workshop held in Panchkula on April 20, 2023. The PCCF submitted the proposal for Haryana Preservation of Trees Act, 2026, on June 30. The draft was discussed at a meeting chaired by the forest minister on Aug 18, after which the suggested modifications were incorporated.
