The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on January 13, 2026 took suo motu cognisance of a media report flagging that more than 15 lakh (1.5 million) trees have been proposed for felling across Madhya Pradesh during 2026 for thermal power, mining, highway and urban projects. The Tribunal observed possible violations of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and directed written responses from the MoEF&CC Director General of Forests, the Madhya Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the Central Pollution Control Board, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, and the Integrated Regional Office at Bhopal. The worst-affected block is Singrauli, where 35,000 trees have already been cleared across 1,397.54 hectares of forest land, of which 1,335.35 hectares was dense forest, and a further 5.7 lakh trees are slated for removal. Other flagged project sites include 1.25 lakh trees for railway expansion in Khandwa, 25,000 trees for the Bhopal-Kanpur highway, 7,871 trees for road widening inside Bhopal city, and bulk clearances for Indore-Ujjain infrastructure and Gwalior corridors. The Tribunal scheduled the next hearing for March 9, 2026, with replies due one week prior. Environmental groups have welcomed the proceedings as an early intervention against cumulative deforestation pressure in the state that hosts India's largest tiger population, 785 tigers in the 2022 estimate and large tracts of central Indian forests vital to the Tropic of Cancer ecological belt.