No more trees to be cut in Delhi till July 2, orders High Court
No more trees to be cut in Delhi till July 2, orders High Court Till July 2 the cutting of trees in Delhi will not be allowed as per the orders by the Delhi High Court. Cutting trees to make way for roads is justified, the court noted. "You want to cut thousands of trees for housing. Can Delhi afford this?" the judge asked the government-run National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), which is overseeing the project. The petitioner, KK Mishra said, "More than 20,000 trees will be cut in the main south Delhi area. A CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report states there is a deficit of nine lakh trees in Delhi. I hope the court will put a stay on the order." “Can Delhi afford to cut of trees for the development of roads and buildings?” the court asked NBCC (India) Ltd, the state-owned real estate company which is redeveloping the seven colonies. The National Green Tribunal will hear the case on July 2 and the high court will hear the matter next on July 4. Hardeep Singh Puri, the union minister of state for housing and urban development, said today: "Till the time I am a minister no tree will be cut and for every tree that is cut we will plant 10 trees. Green cover will go up by three times after re-development of seven colonies in South Delhi. Young activists are too fast to blame." The environment impact assessment clearance for the projects shows that 11,000 out of 13,128 trees will be cut in Sarojini Nagar, 1,465 out of 1,513 in Nauroji Nagar, 3,033 out of l 3,906 in Netaji Nagar and another 520 in Kasturba Nagar. The figures for RK Puram are yet to be released. -PTC News
