Nineteen of 20 government agencies, which planted about 24.5 lakh saplings in the city under different plantation drives in 2018-19, are yet to submit a third-party audit to the Forest Department. The audit will give details of the survival rate of the saplings.
Without a third-party audit, it is impossible to know the survival rate of the saplings, for which the government had spent lakhs of rupees, according to experts.
At a meeting chaired by the Environment Minister Kailash Gahlot on July 23, the Minister “reiterated” different authorities to do the third-party audit, according to a senior official who was part of the meeting.
“The requirement of third-party audit was highlighted to check the survival percentage of saplings planted during previous seasons,” the official said. The official said that the Forest Department does not know whether the agencies have done the audit or not, but added that their reports are “awaiting”. Forest Department is not responsible for the various drives as it is just a coordinating authority, the official said.
Apart from the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), no other agency has submitted the report. The agencies which are yet to submit the third-party audits, include Delhi Jal Board, New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Public Works Department, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) among others.
When reached out, S. Challia, Director Horticulture of the NDMC, said, “The third-party audit has been done in the last 10 days by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and we are awaiting the report. Will submit it soon.”
The DUSIB CEO and DJB spokesperson did not respond to calls and messages seeking a comment.
Why third-party audit?
“Third-party audit is very important, but no one does it. It has to be done and then only we can know how many trees survived. Else we will keep planting trees and they die and it is a waste of money,” said Aditya N. Prasad, an environmental lawyer. He called for a law which makes it mandatory to do such audits. “Third-party audit is an extremely important step which should not be ignored in the light of climate crisis that needs to be responded to,” said Kanchi Kohli, senior researcher, Centre for Policy Research.
