Delhi HC stays culling of trees till July 4
new delhi — In a relief to residents, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked authorities not to axe till July 4 the 16,500 trees sanctioned by the Centre for the redevelopment of six south Delhi colonies.
A bench of Justice Vinod Goel and Justice Rekha Palli directed the National Buildings Construction Corp (NBCC) not to cut the trees till the next date of hearing on July 4.
The court also permitted the petitioner to challenge the orders passed by the authorities giving permission to cut the trees for these residential projects.
During the hearing, the court asked NBCC: “You know the effect it would have? I understand if it was widening of a road or something inevitable. Can Delhi afford it today? Keep your hands off till July 4?”
The NBCC, tasked with redeveloping half a dozen south Delhi colonies, agreed not to cut any tree
Can Delhi today afford cutting down of so many trees for a housing complex? We could understand if it was a road-widening work which is inevitable. Delhi High Court
till July 4. The six south Delhi colonies where the trees would be felled are Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar, Mohammadpur and Kasturba Nagar, the petition by Kaushal Kant Mishra said.
All these areas are home to government employees where the central government is pulling down houses built in the 1950 and replacing them with high-rise buildings.
The petitioner, an orthopaedic surgeon, has sought the setting aside of the terms of reference and the environment clearances granted to the project by the Environment Ministry, saying it would lead to felling of over 16,500 trees.
The petition has claimed that planting of saplings in another location as compensatory afforestation would not reduce the burden which would be put on the environment due to the large-scale felling of trees.
It has claimed that saplings would be a “poor substitute” for the fully grown trees that would be felled for the housing projects.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday welcomed the Delhi High Court stay on cutting of thousands of trees in Delhi.
“AAP welcomes the decision of the High Court to stay any further felling of trees in Central Government’s VIP housing project in Delhi. It was a daylight mass murder to fell 17,000 trees,” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted. — IANS, PTI