The Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday issued contempt of court notices to the Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department and the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) of the Forest Department of the Delhi Government for alleged non-compliance of its orders regarding leaving one metre space while undertaking construction near trees and cutting the roots of hundreds of trees.
It had been alleged in the complaint that the PWD had dug up trenches for building storm water drains on the Outer Ring Road as part of its elevated road project. These trees had been marked with a green band on the orders of the NGT in another case as protected trees. However, despite this their roots had been cut, causing felling of some of them.
The NGT also directed the Forest Department and PWD to ensure that the roots were covered immediately.
All this comes after a contempt application of the same stretch was disposed off by the NGT with a stern warning on April 15 which ordered the two departments to ensure that trees were not damaged. However, both the PWD and Forest Department did not take any action and a number of trees were felled.
The complainants in the case have alleged that there was a design behind the felling of trees. “It has now become a modus operandi for the civic agencies, wherein the roots of trees, for felling which permission has not been received, are dug up so that nature takes care of the rest. Similar trends were seen in the Vasant Kunj stretch of South Delhi where PWD is engaged in widening of a road,” said Aditya N. Prasad, who has been fighting the battle to protect Delhi’s trees.
