Trees cut, burnt near Najafgarh drain

GURUGRAM: Greens are up in arms, following reports that a huge number of trees had been burnt down in the 500m stretch along Najafgarh drain on the Haryana-Delhi border last week.
TOI visited the spot on Wednesday, and identified 50 tree stumps and 16 trees burnt along the drain between Shani Mandir and Shadipur. There were remnants of trees that had been axed and burnt on either side of the road that runs along the drain. On one side, all trees on the entire 500m stretch had been cut, while on the other side, about 200m had been cleared.

According to greens, this is the first time trees have been burnt on such a massive scale in this area. They alleged over 300 trees were burnt. “I was shocked to see so many trees burnt down on either side of the road. Over 300 small trees and some trees taller than 30m were killed. These were fully grown, old trees, giving much-needed green cover. A passerby said there was a massive fire, but to me it looks like an encroachment attempt,” said Dwarka Expressway resident Anindita, who reported the violation.

Locals said most of the burnt trees were cleared using trucks. “The trees were cleared using trucks over two days after the fire. On Sunday, when I asked a truck driver what they were doing in the area, he said garbage had caught fire and they were clearing trees that had burnt down. As there is no residential area nearby, not many people witnessed the fire, but it couldn’t be garbage, as trees were burnt on both sides of the road,” said another resident, requesting anonymity.

As the area lies on the Haryana-Delhi border, authorities were found trying to pass the buck. Sources in Delhi flood control office said it falls under Haryana, adding, “Such violations take place in Haryana as the state doesn’t have strict laws to penalise offenders. In Delhi, they would be prosecuted.” D Hembram, conservator of forests (Gurgaon), said, “The area falls under jurisdiction of Jhajjar district.”

With maintenance of Najafgarh jheel, drain and surroundings ignored by both states, Najafgarh drain — once part of Yamuna-tributary Sahibi — is now the largest and filthiest drain in the area.

Sunder Lal, district forest officer, Jhajjar, told TOI, “Forest guards found the tree burning has taken place in a non-notified area, which is not protected forest. As General Section 4 doesn’t apply in Jhajjar, we can’t take action. Neither were the trees planted by us. So we can’t book offenders for damaging public plantations as well.”