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1. Background of the Case The Supreme Court of India, led by Chief Justice Bhushan R. Gavai, has severely criticised the Maharashtra Government for its poor record in carrying out compensatory afforestation in the Aarey region. The issue came up during the hearing of an application filed by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) seeking permission to cut trees for the Goregaon–Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, a tunnel connecting Filmcity in Goregaon with Khindipada in Mulund. An inspection report presented by Anitta Patil , Director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) , revealed that out of 20,460 saplings planted as compensatory afforestation, only 50% survived . Most surviving trees were poorly maintained, with stunted growth, low height, and little ecological recovery due to lack of maintenance, poor soil conditions, water scarcity, and grazing . 2. Supreme Court’s Observations The bench comprising CJI Bhushan R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran expres...

The Union Environment Ministry has issued fresh guidelines to states and Union Territories for utilizing degraded forest lands for compensatory afforestation (CA). This directive comes after the ministry’s recent notifications on the Green Credit Programme (August 29, 2025) and the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, 2025 (August 31, 2025) , which significantly amend the Forest Conservation Rules, 2023 . What is Compensatory Afforestation? Compensatory afforestation is the legal requirement for industries and infrastructure projects that divert forest land for development. To balance ecological loss: Projects must plant trees over an equivalent area of non-forest land . If non-forest land is unavailable, they must afforest double the area of degraded forest land . This practice ensures that industrial development is aligned with ecological restoration and India’s carbon neutrality goals . Green Credits and Their Role Under the revised Green Credit Program...