The Maharashtra government has released a government resolution (GR) to its earlier circular on Ease of Doing Business. It updates the rules related to tree felling permissions under industrial work ease. It also changes the list of required documents and the time limit for approvals in certain cases.
As per the revised order, applicants must now attach five mandatory documents while applying for tree felling permission under Schedule No. 6. These include:
* An undated copy of the 7/12 extract with tree registration.
* If there is more than one occupant on the land, a consent letter from each person must be submitted along with a photo obtained from the Setu.
* A map of the relevant group, survey, or survey number must also be provided.
* Applicants belonging to Scheduled Tribes must submit a caste certificate issued by a competent authority.
* A guarantee letter for planting new trees in place of the felled ones is required.
It also revises the processing time for certain proposals. Earlier, proposals for industrial purposes were to be processed within 30 days as a special case. This has now been changed to 15 days. Under the new rule, proposals for both industrial and government projects will be given priority after detailed verification.
Tree felling in Maharashtra is governed by strict laws. Under the Maharashtra Felling of Trees (Regulation) Act, 1964, no person can cut a tree without prior written permission from a designated Tree Officer. Even if the tree is on private land, approval is mandatory. The officer must examine the application and can either grant or reject permission.
The process can become more complex for large projects. If a proposal involves cutting a high number of trees, such as 200 or more, it must be reviewed by a higher-level authority. The revised rules are expected to make the approval process faster.
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