HC allows conditional transplantation of 188 year old banyan tree

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has granted a conditional permission to the Napur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to transplant a 188-year-old banyan tree located on the e-library premises in the Thakkar Gram area at Pachpaoli. NMC has also been ordered to submit a maintenance report to the court every 7 days following the tree's transplantation. During a hearing on a public interest litigation, the bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Ajit Kadethankar considered the petitioners' concerns about the tree's survival post-transplantation. Despite these concerns, NMC upheld the experts' report and supported the transplantation. The court approved the transplantation with specific conditions, including the requirement to care for the tree for 5 years after transplantation, submit weekly reports, and take action against responsible officers in case of any lapses. Responsibility for the transplantation and supervision was assigned to Tree Authority Superintendent Amol Chaurpagar and NMC executive engineer Kamlesh Chavan. Additionally, NMC assured the HC that it would plant 200 new trees in exchange for the transplanted tree, rather than the original plan of planting 188.