How much is a tree worth? SC panel pegs it at age multiplied by Rs 74500

It has mentioned this while submitting a report which involves framing guidelines on the valuation of trees for the first time in India.
A big tree on the side of a road with grass on either side
A big tree on the side of a road with grass on either side
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In a first, a Supreme Court-appointed committee has pegged the cost of a tree in India at Rs 74,500 multiplied by its age. The monetary worth of a tree was mentioned by the panel in a report to frame guidelines on the valuation of trees. The committee of experts told a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde that a heritage tree serves the civil society and the environment and its valuation can be reached on various counts including oxygen, micro-nutrients, compost and bio-fertiliser. A heritage tree is a large tree that takes decades or centuries to mature.

The committee has added in its report that a heritage tree with a lifespan of well over 100 years could be valued at more than Rs 1 crore and also that the monetary worth of a project for which hundreds of trees are proposed to cut down is far less than the economic and environmental worth of these trees which are being cut down due to the project. 

The report, which was filed in February but was made public on Wednesday, states that if all costs are added and multiplied by the remaining age of a tree, in the present case 100 years, the grand total would be Rs 74,500 per tree year.

Out of this, the cost of oxygen alone is Rs 45,000 a year, followed by the cost of biofertilizers, which are worth Rs 20,000. The report had also stated that upon adding the costs of micronutrients and compost, living trees will more than not outweigh the benefits of the projects which they are being cut down for.

The committee has also suggested that instead of cutting down trees for highway projects, the governments should first explore alternative options for these projects such as using existing waterways and railway lines to facilitate traffic and transport infrastructure. The committee had also stressed that if trees should be cut down, the first endeavour should be to relocate them by making use of modern technology and it also added that if trees are being cut down, it was not enough to plant five saplings in the place of a 100-year-old tree since such a tree cannot be equated with a few fresh saplings. It also suggested that for a tree with a crown size, 10 saplings should be planted; 25 saplings for a tree with a medium crown size; and 50 saplings for a tree with large crown size.

The report by the committee was submitted before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde which had asked the committee member in January 2020 to determine the monetary value of the trees, based on the cost of oxygen which they release and other benefits to the environment. The court, while hearing the case of cutting down of 356 trees for the construction of five railway over-bridges in West Bengal, had appointed the committee comprising of five experts — Nishikant Mukerji (managing director, Tiger Environment Centre), Soham Pandya (secretary and executive director at the Centre of Science for Villages), Sunita Narain (director, Centre for Science and Environment), Bikash Kumar Maji (assistant chief engineer, ROB unit, West Bengal government) and Niranjita Mitra (division forest officer, North 24 Parganas).

Based on the report, the Supreme Court has sought the responses of the Union government, West Bengal government and an NGO which is involved in the case. “The committee’s recommendation will make every government go bankrupt. So, we need to finetune a few suggestions,” the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday.

The bench has now posted the matter for hearing on February 18.

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