Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975

No: 44 Dated: Sep, 16 1975

THE MAHARASHTRA (URBAN AREAS) PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF TREES ACT, 1975

ACT No. XLIV OF 1975

    An Act to make better provision for trees in urban areas in the State by regulating felling of trees and providing for planting of adequate number of new trees in those areas.

    Whereas with the growing pace of urbanisation and industrialisation, there has been indiscriminate felling of large number of trees in the urban areas of the State of Maharashtra;

    And Whereas it is expedient to make better provision for protection and preservation of trees in urban areas in the State, by regulating felling of trees and providing for planting of adequate number of new trees in those areas and to provide for matters connected therewith;

It is hereby enacted in the Twenty-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows, namely:-

CHAPTER I

Preliminary

1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and preservation of Trees Act, 1975.

(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.

(3) It shall come into force in any urban area or part thereof on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify and different dates may be specified for different urban areas or parts thereof.

2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(1-a) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under section 22 of this Act.

(a) "preservation of trees" includes planting of new tress and other operations for survival and propagation of the trees;

(b) "relevant Act" means the Act under which the urban local authority concerned is constituted;

(c) "to fell a tree" includes burning or cutting or or in any way damaging a tree;

(d) "tree" means any perennial woody plant, whether in the seeding or sappling stage or fully grown stage, and includes shrubs whose branches spring from the ground level;

(e) "Tree Officer" means an officer appointed as such by the Tree Authority for the purpose of this Act;

(f) "urban area" means a municipal corporation area for which a municipal corporation is constituted under the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 or the City of Nagpur Corporation Act, 1948, or a municipal area for which a Municipal Council is constituted under the Maharashtra Municipalities Act, 1965, and includes a notified area for which a Special Planning Authority is constituted or appointed under section 40 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 or an area designated as the site for a new town for which a Development Authority is constituted under section 113 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966;

(g) "urban local authority", in respect of any urban area, means the municipal corporation, municipal council, special Planning Authority or Development Authority, as the case may be, having jurisdiction over that area,

(h) words and expressions used in this Act, but not defined herein, shall have the meanings assigned to them in the relevant Act.