Supreme Court asks FRI to conduct tree census in Taj Trapezium Zone

Supreme Court directs tree census in Taj Trapezium Zone to protect trees and prevent illegal felling, appoints Forest Research Institute.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (March 5, 2025) directed the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) authority to appoint Forest Research Institute to carry out a tree census in the area.

A bench of Justices Abhay Oka and N. Kotiswar Singh said penal provisions against violators couldn’t be implemented sans data of existing trees.

The TTZ, an area of 10,400 square-kilometre approximately, spreads across Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras, and Etah districts in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district in Rajasthan.

“This data can be made available through tree census. We direct TTZ authority to appoint Forest Research Institute at Dehradun as an authority to carry out tree census of all existing trees in the area of TTZ. The formal order shall be passed within a week,” the Bench said.

The apex court said the object of the U.P. Protection of Trees Act, 1976 was to protect the trees and not to fell or cut the trees.

Without a tree census there cannot be any effective implementation of the provisions of 1976 Act, it added.

The top court had previously outlined the need for a census of existing trees and a mechanism to keep a vigil to ensure trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) were not illegally felled.