'Environment is for the whole society. The government can compensate an individual but how will it compensate the entire society,' said the court.
The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday expressed strong dissatisfaction over the Uttar Pradesh government's offer of "adequate compensation" to a Noida resident on whose land thousands of trees are likely to be felled for a proposed food park of Ramdev's Patanjali Yog Sansthan.
A division bench comprising justices Tarun Agarwala and Ashok Kumar remarked "the government cannot justify its act of cutting down of trees on the basis that it will give adequate compensation to an affected individual".
"Environment is for the whole society. The government can compensate an individual but how will it compensate the entire society," the court asked while hearing a petition filed by Asaf of Gautam Buddh Nagar district who challenged the allotment of 4500 acres of land to the Sansthan.
The petitioner alleged that he had been granted a 30-year lease for 200 bighas of land for plantation of trees and the state government has now allotted the same for the proposed food park which was "illegal".
The petitioner has further alleged that about 6,000 trees planted on the land leased out to him were likely to be cut down for the food park, inflicting a heavy damage to the environment.
The court deferred further hearing on the matter which will be heard today.
PTI