The Delhi High Court today put up a stay on a project that required the felling of 16, 500 trees to build government office’s and commercial complexes till July 5 2018. The court asked if the Green tribunal has given its permission to the authorities. The judge asked the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) if the city can afford to exist without the trees, and also said that if it had been road widening work, then the permission would’ve been granted by killing 17 thousand trees just to built houses is a lot of risk. The NBCC replied to the court, that National Green Tribunal could give them the clearance for the task.
It has already deposited 8 crore to the tree authority in Delhi government and has acquired the permission to cut the trees. The petition to stop the trees from being cut down was filed by KK Mishra, who works as an Orthopaedic surgeon. He stated that more than 20 thousand trees are going to be cut down in the South Delhi Area, for “redevelopment” of the area. There is already a deficit of 9 lakh trees in the city, and hoped that the court put a stay on the task.
Not only Mishra, people have begun protesting against the cutting of trees in Delhi, especially people from the Sarojni Nagar have decided to hug the trees to save them from being cut down, evoking the name of Chipko Movement from the latter centuries that have also been helped in stopping the authorities from disturbing the nature. The environmentalists have also argued that it will take for the new saplings to take hold in the soil of Delhi, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and it could have adverse effect on the health of children as the danger of smog rises.
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