Nashik Kumbh tree-cutting plans will return to the Bombay High Court for a final hearing after 10 days, following petitions challenging proposed works at Tapovan, including the construction of a Sadhu Gram and an exhibition centre known as the MICE Hub. The petitions also raise objections to other infrastructure works planned for the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandurkar Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna heard the matters on Thursday, according to a report by Loksatta. The Nashik Municipal Corporation and the Nashik-Trimbak Kumbh Authority urged the court to hear the petitions urgently, saying the works needed to be completed within fixed deadlines for the religious gathering.
The municipal corporation has challenged a stay imposed by the National Green Tribunal on the decision to cut thousands of trees for the proposed facilities at Tapovan. During the hearing, the civic body sought the removal of that stay, while also informing the court that some trees would need to be cut for road widening.
The corporation’s position, as reported in court, is that tree cutting is being undertaken only after obtaining permission from the relevant authority. The petitions before the High Court, however, cover the tree-cutting proposal as well as other works linked to the Kumbh preparations.
The Nashik-Trimbak Kumbh Authority has argued that the scale of the event requires major changes to the city’s infrastructure. Its petition refers to Nashik’s population as being approximately 23 to 25 and estimates that 12 crore people could visit the city for the Kumbh Mela. The report does not specify the unit used for the population figure.
The court directed all parties to submit their positions before the next hearing. The matter will be taken up after 10 days, when the bench is expected to consider the competing submissions on the tree-cutting decision, the tribunal’s stay and the other works challenged in the petitions.
