Haryana has informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the “Haryana Preservation of Tree Act, 2026” is in the process of being formulated and would be notified after approval by the competent authority. The submission came as the court disposed of a public interest litigation over preserving “large and thick green cover” in Gurugram’s Sector 53 after the State assured preservation of the site.The statement on the new Act’s formulation came before the Division Bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Yashvir Singh Rathor during the hearing of the PIL filed by Varun Sheokand against the State of Haryana and other respondents.The Bench noted that it had already, through an interim order passed on October 18, 2024, restrained construction activity on a site earmarked for group housing in Sector 53, Gurugram, as the project was “adversely affecting large and thick green cover at the same place”.Recording subsequent developments, the Bench observed Estate Officer-II of the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Gurugram, had during the course of hearing produced an email before the court stating that the interim order would be complied with and “the site having thick green cover shall be preserved as it is”.Taking the communication on record, the Bench asserted: “In view of the same, the first and substantial prayer made in this petition for restraining the respondents from raising any construction in the thick green cover in Gurugram stands satisfied,” the Bench ruled.The court, however, clarified that issues relating to broader environmental concerns and other consequential reliefs could still be agitated in an already pending PIL dealing with protection of green cover in Haryana and Punjab.“For the purpose of other ancillary prayers, which are consequential in nature, this Court extends liberty to the petitioner to intervene in PIL `Jattvibeil Kumar Sharma and others versus Union of India and others’, where a similar issue of protection of green cover in the States of Haryana and Punjab is under adjudication,” the Bench observed while disposing of the petition.The high court in the related matter, referred to by the Bench, had just over a month back admonished Haryana for lack of seriousness towards environmental degradation. The Bench had observed that the State’s functionaries appeared to be displaying neither seriousness nor awareness of the looming ecological crisis.The censure came as the Bench headed by Chief Justice Nagu observed that the State’s forest cover was languishing at a mere 3.65 per cent of the geographical area. The court made it clear that such inaction warranted “drastic remedial measures”.The observations formed part of the High Court’s ongoing effort to safeguard the region’s green cover. As part of this exercise, the High Court on April 1 prohibited the felling of “any tree of any age/specie in the State of Haryana, including cutting of approximately 5000 trees proposed to be cut for construction of Zirakpur–Panchkula bypass, without permission of this Court.”The observation came after the court was apprised — on the basis of the Indian State of Forest Report 2023 — that Haryana’s forest cover stood at just 3.65 per cent. Taking note of the submissions, the Bench observed: “It appears that the functionaries of the State of Haryana are neither serious nor they seem conscious of the impending ecological catastrophe”.Flagging the administrative inertia, the Bench went on to assert: “Inactivity of the respondents requires drastic remedial measures by this Court.” Senior advocate Anand Chhibbar, along with counsel Karan Gaba, Ateevraj Sandhu and Vijiyesh Malhotra appeared for the petitioners before the Bench in the matter, while the centre was represented by Additional Solicitor-General of India Satya Pal Jain.