HC permits police station construction, seeks tree-preservation safeguards

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh high court on Friday allowed construction of a proposed police station in Raipur to continue while directing the state government to submit a detailed tree-preservation and compensatory afforestation plan.Hearing a petition challenging the project, the court said the police station was “necessary and essential for providing safety to the public at large” and asked the state to explain how construction would proceed while protecting remaining trees on the site.The dispute relates to a proposed police station on a portion of a 5.7-hectare plot in Shankar Nagar. Senior counsel S C Verma, appearing for the petitioners through video conferencing along with counsel Pankaj Singh, argued that the land falls within an “Oxygen Zone” designated by the state government and that construction would damage the area’s green cover.Additional Advocate General R K Gupta, appearing for the state, contended that the land is not notified as green land under the Raipur master plan. He submitted that only 36 trees would be affected and that Rs 50,000 had already been deposited in the state’s Hariyali Kosh towards compensatory afforestation in accordance with a 2022 government notification. The state also informed the court that demarcation work had begun for the project.Referring to Supreme Court observations on balancing environmental protection with essential development projects, the high court directed the state to place on record a plantation plan prepared in consultation with the forest department. The plan must specify how compensatory plantation will be carried out and how newly planted trees will be protected during construction.The court also observed that, with the monsoon approaching, plantation should be undertaken at the earliest in consultation with forest authorities. Construction will continue subject to compliance with the safeguards outlined by the court.