Delhi’s elite club rips up green cover

Delhi Golf Club denies charges of felling 100 trees;  FIR lodged

The Delhi Golf Club, the watering hole of the elite, is in the dock after a probe into the alleged illegal felling of trees by the club management has found large-scale violations.

A Forest Department official said on Saturday that 895 logs were found during an ongoing probe which would soon be completed and a report would be submitted. Out of them, 424 were big logs of trees. While some logs were in a decayed state, indicating that they were buried quite some time ago, some appeared to have been freshly cut, said the official, adding that felling was done without seeking prior permission from authorities.

However, the Delhi Golf Club management denied of any wrongdoing. An official said the club has made every possible effort to preserve its natural surroundings and environment. But club officials had earlier claimed that the trees had fallen naturally due to storm and the club just cleared it out of the way.

The Forest Department had suspected that the trees were cut without permission and the logs were buried in pits especially dug for this purpose, the official added.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had taken a dim view of the illegal felling of trees by Delhi Golf Club authorities without seeking prior permission from the Environment and Forest Department. Kejriwal had directed the Department to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the club.

“FIRs regd. Shocking that such elite club brazenly cutting trees. Strictest action will be taken,” Kejriwal had then tweeted. The CM was peeved since the trees were cut from the city’s lung space without seeking mandatory permission at a time when air pollution was impacting people’s health, the official further said.

Accordingly, the Range Officer of the South Division of the Forest department had filed a complaint with the Hazrat Nizamuddin police station over the illegal felling. The complaint filed at Nizamuddin police station stated that Delhi Golf Club has allegedly chopped over 100 trees on its premises without taking mandatory permissions from the Forest Department.

When asked about the progress made in the probe against the high and mighty of the club, Delhi Police officials said an FIR has been registered against unknown persons for allegedly cutting the trees without permission and action would be taken after the Forest Department completes its probe.

The alleged illegal cutting of trees by the Delhi Golf Club management came into the limelight after an existing member of the club lodged a written complaint against the Club, alleging that about 100 trees have been cut by them without permission from the Forest Department.

The complainant also alleged that the trees were cut two years back and dumped in the golf area. The complaint had further said the club’s premises needs further inspection to ascertain the gravity of the offence. The Government took the allegations very seriously and a decision to lodge a formal police complaint for filing an FIR against the club management was taken.

A team of the Forest Department visited the club thrice. The inspection report confirmed that logs of several sizes were found dumped in several pits here. It also dug out 425 logs, said the report, adding that logs, possibly taken out of the pits or to be buried, were lying at the site.