What’s the value of a tree? Supreme Court panel says its ₹74,500 multiplied by its age

Feb. 4: Often people are heard to discuss the real worth of tree in monetary terms. Setting a guideline on the valuation of trees for the first time in India, A Supreme Court appointed committee said a tree’s monetary worth is its age multiplied by ₹74,500. Out of this, the cost of oxygen alone is ₹45,000. The five-member committee of experts added that a heritage tree with a lifespan of well over 100 years could be valued at more than ₹1 crore.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde had set up a committee in February to evaluate the true value of a tree, when a PIL had challenged the West Bengal government’s decision to cut 356 trees to construct five railway overbridges costing Rs 500 crore. The committee comprised Soham Pandya, B K Maji, Niranjita Mitra, N K Mukarji and Sunita Narain. The report was filed in February last year but made public on Wednesday.