A girth of 35 cm at ground level: how the Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2026 decides what counts as a tree

Background

Punjab now has its own law on tree felling, so the definition it works on is worth knowing. The Punjab Protection of Trees Act, 2026 - Punjab Act No. 13 of 2026, assented to on 2 September 2026 and published in the Punjab Government Gazette on 24 September 2026 - regulates the felling of trees in urban areas through a permit requirement, with penalties for cutting without one. The Act works on a measurement: a woody plant whose branches spring from and are supported upon a trunk counts as a tree only if the trunk has a girth of at least 35 centimetres at ground level. Anything of smaller girth, which covers saplings and young trees, falls outside the Act and can be felled without a permit under it. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has described the Act as draconian, and the State has said it will not implement it for the time being.