After HC, green tribunal stays tree felling

NEW DELHI: Delhiites got an additional relief on Monday as National Green Tribunal (NGT) stayed till July 19 the proposed felling of trees for redevelopment projects in south Delhi colonies.

The tribunal ordered the ‘status quo’ passed by the Delhi high court on June 25 to be maintained and issued notices to several agencies, including National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), central public works department (CPWD), Union environment ministry, Delhi forest department and Central Pollution Control Board, and asked them to reply before July 19, the next date of hearing.

A bench headed by the acting NGT chairperson, Justice Jawad Rahim, also directed the project proponents to make a categorical statement and inform the panel the “exact” number of trees proposed to be cut.

The tribunal was hearing three petitions on the same matter, including one filed by NGO Society for Protection of Culture, Heritage, Environment, Traditions & Promotion of National Awareness that sought a stay on the tree felling and quashing of the projects’ environmental clearances.

The petitioner, Anil Sood, has claimed that environmental clearance has been granted for seven general-pool residential colonies without taking into account the possible adverse effect on the ecology in the areas. It said the clearance has been granted for colonies in Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Nauroji Nagar through NBCC and in Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammadpur through CPWD.

Planting of saplings at another location as compensatory afforestation would not reduce the environmental burden, the plea added.

Sood, the NGO’s president, claimed the Centre had given the clearance without considering several factors, such as population density and the impact of cutting 16,500 trees on the ambient air quality in the area. “This is a small victory for the people, but we will keep fighting until we can ensure no tree is cut,” he said. “We have asked for some time to provide additional details.” The other two petitioners are Green Circle, an NGO, and Utkarsh Bansal, a Delhi resident.

Under the projects, close to 16,000 trees are planned to be cut, including around 11,000 trees in Sarojini Nagar, according to the environmental impact assessment report.

The high court on June 25 stayed the felling till July 4, the next date of hearing at HC. “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,” it had asked.

Welcoming the NGT stay, Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted that though Union urban development minister Hardeep Puri recently announced that the smart city project would be re-planned to avoid further fellings, “NBCC’s advocates were opposing the petitions and had not placed any redesign plan”.

AAP appealed to the Centre to communicate to the Delhi forest department about its decision to re-plan the project.