The Government of Punjab on August 10, 2026, issued the Punjab Protection of Trees Bill, 2026.
The following have been amended, namely:
• The Act extends to the urban areas of Punjab specified in Schedule III or subsequently notified by the State Government and comes into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. It regulates the felling, removal and damage of trees in urban areas, except exempted areas and tree species specified in Schedules I and II. No person, organisation or government agency may fell, remove or damage a tree without permission, except in specified circumstances. A Tree Protection Officer may grant permission after inquiry, particularly where a tree poses danger to persons/property or creates a traffic hazard. Felling of Heritage Trees—trees over 100 years old having unique historical, cultural or religious value—is permitted only in the rarest of rare cases involving pressing development needs or grave danger, with prior State Government approval.
• Applications for permission shall be made in Form A with prescribed ownership, tree and site details. The Tree Protection Officer shall decide applications within 30 days, while applications concerning dead/fallen trees or trees posing danger shall be decided within 7 days; failure to decide such urgent applications within 7 days results in deemed permission. An aggrieved person may appeal within 30 days. A person permitted to fell a tree shall plant and maintain 10 trees for every tree felled, or 25 trees for every Heritage Tree, subject to limited relaxation where plantation is not feasible. Non-compliance with plantation obligations may attract penalties of ₹10,000 per tree for the first violation, ₹35,000 for the second and up to ₹50,000 per tree for continuing non-compliance.
• Unauthorised felling/removal or violation of permission conditions may attract environmental compensation and a penalty of up to ₹10,000 per tree, while damaging a tree may attract environmental compensation and a penalty of up to ₹2,000 per tree. Environmental compensation collected is to be used for greening activities in the concerned urban local bodies. The Act also empowers the State Government to prohibit felling of specified classes of trees for a notified period, exempt specified areas/species, frame rules and issue orders to remove implementation difficulties.
• The Trees Preservation Policy for Non-Forest Government and Public Lands-2024 is repealed, while the new Act operates in addition to other laws regulating tree felling.
[Notification no. - 8-PLA-2026/31]
