Delhi High Court Halts Felling of Over 16,000 Trees for Housing
The court said that redevelopment could not be done at the cost of allowing the capital to die.
The Delhi High Court, in an order dated 4 July 2018, prohibited the felling of over 16,000 trees to make way for three central government housing projects, in south Delhi.
The court said that redevelopment could not be done at the cost of allowing the capital to die, adding that no further trees were to be felled till it passed further orders, The Indian Express reported.
Delhi Environment and Forest Minister Imran Hussain had also, on 3 July, recommended that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal revoke permission for felling of trees for the three projects.
In a note to Baijal, Hussain had said the user agency has "failed" to carry out necessary compensatory tree plantation and has also "failed" to make available a site to the city forest department for the same which amounts to "violation of NGT orders".
The National Green Tribunal had, in an order on 2 July, ordered the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to halt cutting of trees in south Delhi till further instructions.
Additionally, the NBCC, the CPWD, the Central Pollution Control Board and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation had been directed to file a response by 19 July, the date of the next hearing in the case.
The NGT has also sought an exact figure of how many trees will be chopped for the housing project, adding that felling of over 16,000 trees would severely impact the environment.
The tribunal has also made the Ministry of Environment and Forests a party to the case and sought a reply in the matter before 19 July.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express)
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