‘ENVIRONMENT MIN CLEARED TREE FELLING WITHOUT PUBLIC HEARING’
NEW DELHI: Controversy around the Delhi tree felling drive refuses to die down, as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday alleged that the Centre gave the order to cut down 17,000 trees.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said that Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had cleared the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a project to redevelop seven housing colonies, and the assessment itself was done without holding any public hearing.
“Harsh Vardhan has misguided the people of Delhi as he said that the central government has nothing to do with the cutting of trees. It was his Ministry that approved the EIA and notified environment clearance to the project,” Bharadwaj said.
“The EIA was merely theoretical and had not assessed the impact on groundwater or pollution,” the AAP leader said, adding that people in the affected colonies were caught unaware by the large-scale felling since there had been no public hearing.
“According to papers, the public hearing was held on January 1, 1900, which is impossible. It seems ghosts attended it 118 years ago,” he said.
Bhardwaj also alleged that the project was aimed at developing “commercial properties” instead of providing housing.”
“The brochure of the project details how it will be a commercial property. It states that there will be a World Trade Centre, conference facilities and prime marketing spaces under it,” the AAP MLA from Greater Kailash added.
Meanwhile, an activist filed a contempt notice against NBCC in the Delhi High Court, alleging that the public sector company is cutting trees despite the HC’S stay order.
The contempt petition by Vimlendu Jha was mentioned before a vacation bench of justices Vinod Goel and Rekha Palli, who said it would be heard on July 4 along with the main plea which has sought setting aside of the terms of reference and Environmental clearance granted to the project by the Environment Ministry, claiming it would lead to felling of over 16,500 trees.
Jha alleged that there was a deliberate and willful default of June 25 undertaking given to the court by the NBCC.