Delhi: ‘Trees cut’ at park in Dwarka, forest dept ticks off DDA

A senior official of the Forest Department said that orders were issued to stop work since the department had not received any request for permission to cut trees at the site. “There has been some illegal felling. We have not received a request for permission. The scale of felling we cannot tell right now…,” he said. The felling is a violation of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994. The Bharat Vandana Park is being developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

The Forest Department was acting on a complaint received in the matter. The order issued on June 9 stated that the site was inspected by the official of the West Forest Division, and “it has been reported that illegal cutting of many numbers of trees at Bharat Vandana Park, Dwarka, New Delhi, has been found”.

It added: “Prima facie this violation of Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, is being done due to construction work carried out by NBCC and NKG.”

The order had asked for all excavation and construction work at the site to be halted to prevent further damage to the trees. “They had requested that in some areas where trees were there, the work could stop. It’s a big area of around 200 acres. As per our reports, there were some parts where there were trees and some parts where there were none. We have asked our staff to cordon off the areas where there were trees, and they can work on the rest of the area,” the official said. A hearing will be held before the course of action is decided, he added.

According to the DDA, “Work has resumed leaving only certain water body areas… about 5% of the total area, as stated in the revised order of the forest department issued on 10.06.2022.”

The ‘recreational park’ is expected to have a “fun park zone”, “adventure park zone” and a lake view restaurant, according to the proposal submitted by the DDA for environment clearance. As per the environment clearance obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change last year, “no tree cutting/transplantation has been proposed in the instant project”.