The Supreme Court has asked the Delhi government to respond to a petition seeking assurance that no trees will be cut for the Tehkhand waste-to-energy plant that is coming up on the eco-sensitive Okhla ridge.
A Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur issued a notice to the government on the plea filed by senior orthopaedic surgeon Kaushal Kant Mishra. The plea has sought for relevant environmental norms to be adhered to in advance of the project.
‘Permit sought to cut trees’
Mr. Mishra, represented by advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Pooja Dhar, said M/s. Tehkhand Waste to Electricity Project Ltd., a concessionaire of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has recently moved an application in the Delhi High Court seeking permission to cut 203 trees after depositing cost towards compensatory planting.
Mr. Mishra claimed that the firm had submitted to the HC on August 30 that the apex court had allowed the project in an order on July 17 and that the high court cannot stand in the way.
Mr. Mishra, in his plea, contended that the apex court order of July 17 specifically noted that the project can be located in the eco-sensitive area provided the SDMC deposit the cost of compensatory planting of ten times the number of trees to be cut and its maintenance for five years with the Delhi Forest Department. The plea also claimed that the SC told the SDMC to make land available for compensatory plantation.
‘Non-viable option’
Mr. Mishra, however, argued that neither the court nor the Central Empowered Committee has been apprised of the fact that “compensatory afforestation/plantation is no longer a viable option in a city which is running out of water (which is necessary for planting saplings) and combating unclean air”.
The plea also pointed to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of March 22, 2018, which “laments the fact that there is a deficit of as many as 8.45 lakh trees, which were supposed to be planted under the government’s ‘Green Delhi’ initiative, but were not planted".
“Further, the CAG report notes that there was inadequate internal evidence on the files of the Forest Department’s for physical verification of the fact that the trees were actually planted and/or that the trees survived,” the application stated.
The plea also claimed that the Tree Authority of Delhi has met only once in the last five years. “There has been no application of mind in allowing precious trees to be cut. It is this authority, which has a proven track record of negligence and apathy, that is now being entrusted with the task of permitting trees to be cut,” the petition noted.
