Plant trees in riot-hit areas\, will help heal society: Delhi HC to MCD

Plant trees in riot-hit areas, will help heal society: Delhi HC to MCD

The order was passed by Justice Najmi Waziri Tuesday in an industrial disputes-related case in which the MCD is a party.

Written by Anand Mohan J | New Delhi | Updated: March 6, 2020 10:31:44 am
Delhi violence, northeast Delhi violence, Delhi clashes, Delhi riots, Delhi government, Delhi news, city news, Indian Express MCD has been asked to plant 500 trees. (Express Photo)

The Delhi High Court has ordered the MCD to plant 500 trees in riot-affected Northeast Delhi, observing that the presence of large number of trees and greenery will facilitate in healing of a bruised and battered society.

The order was passed by Justice Najmi Waziri Tuesday in an industrial disputes-related case in which the MCD is a party.

Justice Waziri relied on photographs of the riot-hit areas accessible on the internet, noting that they show “long stretches of public roads and streets without a blade of grass, let alone any tree or a bush on either side of the road or on the road divider”.

“The court is of the view that visual relief and therapeutic effects of greenery around one’s place of work, residence or in one’s neighbourhood cannot be overemphasised. All-the-more, in a post-riot scenario where thousands of citizens have suffered damages in body and mind, the presence of large number of trees and greenery will surely facilitate in healing of a bruised and battered society,” read the order.

The HC has ordered the MCD to consider planting 24 kinds of trees including jackfruit, mango, teak, anjeer, banyan, butter tree, and black plum. Justice Waziri has directed that the trees shall be of “deciduous indigenous variety and they shall have a nursery age of 3.5 years and a minimum height of six feet”.

The MCD has been directed to water and nurse the trees. The HC also directed that photos be filed before and after the plantation before the next date of hearing on March 17.

The Director (Horticulture), East Delhi Municipal Corporation, also undertook to recce the area extensively and to start plantation immediately, especially since the earth has become more receptive because of the recent rains in the city. “He submits that while he is surveying the area, the tree plantation shall start from tomorrow itself,” the order read.