People tie rakhis to neem trees, protest felling

The residents of Sarvodaya Enclave in south Delhi are tying rakhis to neem trees in the area as a mark of protest against their felling to ease traffic congestion. Protesters said that while two trees have already been cut down in front of the Mother’s International School on Aurobindo Marg, seven more would be felled soon.

Locals, mostly women, started tying rakhis to the trees on Friday night and plan to continue the exercise till feeling stops. They also plan to organise night vigils.

“Rakshabandhan is a month away and we are tying rakhis to these old, native trees,” said Ranju Minhas, an environmental activist.

Padmawati Dwivedi, who carried out a tree census in the area, said: “We are planning to organise night vigils till they realise that the real problem behind the traffic congestion is not the old trees. There are many other reasons for the traffic congestion and cutting down trees is just a temporary solution.”

The 8-km stretch is a small part of the road that leads to Gurgaon. The trees are located on the main road far from the kerb.

Sources in Delhi Traffic Police department said that a proposal to cut down 30 trees on the Aurobindo Marg to Adchini red light stretch was sent to the forest department. They got permission to remove only nine trees on this road. “We have a plan to widen the 8-km road stretch from Aurobindo Marg to Andheria More. We have got permission from the forest department to cut down nine trees in front of the Mother’s International School and six trees on Press Enclave Road,” said Vijay Singh, DCP Traffic (south).

A PWD official, who was not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed two trees were cut in the area as part of the plan to decongest 28 corridors identified by the traffic police. “Under the plan, we are undertaking multiple tasks to clear the traffic bottlenecks that the citizens have to face every day,” he said.

The forest department has asked PWD to plant 10 saplings for each tree felled — a prerequisite for granting permission to cut down trees.

“We also ask them to submit a security deposit which can be forfeited if the required saplings are not planted,” said a forest official.