The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) informed the Bombay High Court (HC) that it will be cutting 10,582 mangrove trees while laying pipelines from its refinery in Mahul, Chembur, to Rasayani in Raigad district. It also assured that no other terrestrial trees will be harmed by them.
BPCL has taken up a project to lay underground 43-kilometre-long pipelines for transporting petroleum products. These pipelines will be passing through its refinery, Mumbai Port Trust Authority, CIDCO, and private lands.
Before the HC, which is considering an application by activist Zoru Bathena, submitted an affidavit pleading with the court to revoke its order from January 23 permitting BPCL to remove 11,677 trees, including mangrove trees, in order to install the pipelines.
In its reply, BPCL stated that 1,095 terrestrial trees and 10,582 mangrove trees have indeed been marked for removal. But only mangrove trees will be chopped; no terrestrial trees will be chopped.
BPCL had petitioned the high court in response to an order from September 2017 requiring its consent for tree cutting. BPCL had argued that the pipeline was essential for the transfer of petroleum products because of the lack of train transportation, which would reduce traffic on the roads. Additionally, it would lessen losses related to the loading and unloading processes.
Bathena said that the court had been "misled" into issuing an order giving permission and was seeking recall of its orders. He cited the December 2017 directive from the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) prohibiting the removal of any trees from the forest and the cutting of any forest surface.
With the exception of two holes for horizontally directed drilling, BPCL has promised not to disturb the forest surface. In Bathena's plea, it was said that it was evident that the pipeline would be built underground, beneath the forest's surface, without rupturing it or felling any trees in the forested areas.
While the pipelines must be installed underground without rupturing the forest's surface, the petroleum firm defended its decision by stating that it "is true only in respect of terrestrial trees and not in respect of marshy land."
Additionally, it stated that it had paid the forest department INR 92 lakh for the raising of 25,000 seedlings and INR 7.13 crore in response to compensatory afforestation levies. Additionally, it has made the necessary payments to various authorities.
Bhathena was ordered to respond to BPCL's affidavit by a bench of Justices AS Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain on February 8. The matter was set for a hearing on February 9.
In its January 23 order, the HC granted permission to the state-owned oil company to cut 11,677 trees, including 10,582 mangroves, for laying four pipelines from its refinery in Mahul in Chembur to Rasayani in Raigad district.
During the January 23 hearing, Justice AS Chandurkar and Justice Jitendra Jain stated that the project was in the larger public interest. Cutting all the trees was approved so that BPCL's goal of reducing its 'carbon footprints' was achieved by the organisation.
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