Gurgaon: More than 12,500 trees were felled across the city over a one-year period, according to a joint committee compliance report submitted before National Green Tribunal (NGT). Data submitted for the period between Nov 1, 2024 and Nov 6, 2025 shows that 389 permissions were granted for felling 17,852 trees. Of these, 12,587 trees were actually cut. Under compensatory plantation norms, agencies were required to plant 1,19,232 saplings against the trees felled. However, 96,750 saplings were planted, leaving a shortfall of 22,482 plants, roughly one in every five saplings mandated, Haryana forest department data shows. In effect, while authorities were required to plant about 95 saplings for every 10 trees cut, they managed only around 77, the figures show. The compliance report was filed in line with NGT directions issued on Nov 11, 2025, when the tribunal asked Haryana govt to submit an affidavit detailing tree-felling permissions, the number of trees cut, compensatory plantation, and sapling survival rates over the past year. The forest department was asked to file the affidavit within eight weeks. The tribunal was hearing a plea filed on Nov 6 by environmentalist Vaishali Rana, who alleged that approvals were being granted “mechanically” and that conditions attached to permissions were not being enforced, resulting in large-scale illegal cutting in the city’s urban areas. “Haryana failed to verify on-ground compliance with felling conditions and neglected follow-up monitoring of compensatory plantations,” Rana said. Rana’s counsel sought a temporary ban on tree cutting in Gurgaon until a proper regulatory mechanism is set up. The tribunal allowed the petitioner to file a separate plea seeking interim relief on the issue. Earlier this week, taking up a petition challenging felling of around 12,000 trees in a proposed sector in Rohtak, Punjab and Haryana high court had asked, “Why are you cutting these trees within Rohtak itself? You don’t want your children or your grandchildren to survive?” HC restrained Haryana govt from cutting more trees on a 38-acre green patch in Rohtak’s proposed Sector 6, and asked it to place on record all permissions, if any, granted for tree felling in the area. The NGT bench, led by Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Afroz Ahmad, also asked how permissions are issued and monitored. Appearing for the state, counsel Rahul Khurana said the wider regulatory framework for tree-felling permissions is already under scrutiny in another matter, where Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has submitted recommendations. That case is listed for Jan 27, 2026, the same date the present matter will also be heard. Forest officials said pending plantations reflected in the compliance report must be completed by the agencies concerned, adding that monitoring systems are being reviewed to improve adherence to timelines. The data comes amid repeated clearances of mature trees in the city for road and metro projects. Around 5,000 trees were felled in 2017 for flyovers and underpasses along NH8, followed by permission to cut nearly 10,000 trees in 2018 for widening of Sohna Road. More recently, 344 trees were approved for removal between sectors 27 and 43, with additional trees cleared along highway stretches in Gurgaon and Rewari forest divisions. An RTI response also showed that while authorities approved felling of over 500 trees across projects, only 124 were transplanted, and compensatory plantation for nearly 3,800 trees remained pending. The state said compensatory afforestation is being carried out near Kundli–Manesar–Palwal Expressway for the metro project, where around 30,000 trees are being planted for felling of about 3,000 trees.
