The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday deferred hearing on the matter related to felling of trees in south Delhi for redevelopment of colonies.
Stating that the tribunal will refrain from dealing with the matter as it is pending at the Delhi High Court, the Bench headed by NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel said, “Simultaneous consideration of same issue at different legal fora is not appropriate. Accordingly, we defer the proceedings.”
The orders came while the panel was hearing pleas moved by three different petitioners, who had sought a stay on the proposed felling of more than 16,000 trees for the redevelopment project.
Earlier, the panel had directed authorities to maintain status quo and not fell trees till further orders. The tribunal had also asked the National Buildings Construction Corporation to make categorical statements regarding the exact number of trees to be felled.
The petitioners had challenged the environmental clearance to the project that was granted without taking into consideration the adverse environmental impact.
