In an effort to strike a balance between development and environmental protection, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would lay down comprehensive guidelines to deal with such conflicts while expressing strong concern over deforestation and depletion of water bodies.
Referring to the recent cases related to Mumbai's Aarey colony and coastal road project, the top court said that time and again these issues are coming up before the courts and it would be appropriate that some norms are laid to deal with them.
"Deforestation is happening at such a pace that even before we come to know about it, everything will be lost. The Green cover needs to be valued and protected. The problem we are facing is that nobody wants to consider an alternative," a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said.
"May be an alternative could be created without felling the trees. It may be little expensive but it would go a long way in preserving the trees," said the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant.
Talking of water bodies in Nagpur, which were perennial source of water, the CJI said they are now covered by concrete and debris.