India, March 25 -- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed an environmental compensation of Rs.95.05 lakh on Delhi government's transport department for felling 495 trees to construct bus depots in Burari in 2019, without compensatory afforestation. The tribunal said the activity was "illegal" as the permission granted by the forest department included transplantation of 168 trees and compensatory plantation of 4,950 saplings, which was not adhered.

A bench comprising justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmed said the environmental compensation has been calculated using guidelines devised by the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board (UKPCB), asking all states, including Delhi, to use the same when illegal tree felling t...