After Protests, Over 1 Million Trees to be Planted in Delhi
According to a government statement released Thursday, the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) will rework the design and plans for the remaining redevelopment of the 7 General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies to avoid felling / cutting of trees.
The decision has come after widespread protests in Delhi to save the trees in the city. It is said that the BJP Government at the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government in Delhi are allowing the cutting of a large number of trees, numbering nearly 16500, for the construction of government flats in the Sarojini Nagar-Nauroji Nagar area of Delhi.
[ Environment Protection: Join the Green Group of Dwarka ]
The government statement added that NBCC has already floated an Expression of Interest for the acquisition of tree relocation / transplantation equipment and for engaging services of trained professional entities in this respect. Citizens groups will be invited to suggest where transplanted trees will be planted.
A meeting in this regard was chaired by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C), Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), in Delhi on Thursday. The meeting discussed various issues relating to re-development of seven GPRA colonies in the particular context of felling of trees.
[ Free Download: Research Report on the Poor State of Education in Delhi Schools ]
The following persons were present in the meeting:
Anil Baijal, LG of Delhi
Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA
Manoj Kumar, Additional Secretary, MoHUA
Uday Pratap Singh, Vice Chairman, DDA
Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD, NBCC
Abhai Sinha, DG, CPWD
Prabhakar Singh, Spl DG, CPWD
In pursuance of the presentation made in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 9 January 2018, a decision was taken to plant more than one million trees in different parts of Delhi as follows:
NBCC 25,000
CPWD 50,000
DDA 10,00,000
DMRC 20,000
[ Dark Streets: Research Report on Corruption in Delhi’s Housing Societies ]
The government statement clarified that these will not be saplings but trees of 8-12 feet height. The planting of trees will be completed in the next three months during the monsoon season and the trees will comprise fruit-bearing, flowering, and other green trees.
Environmental and related clearances are given on the recommendations of the Forest Department of the State Government and specific recommendation of the Minister concerned in the Government of NCT of Delhi (Imran Hussain, Minister of Environment and Forest had recommended these cases to the LG).
Meanwhile, the LG of Delhi has been advised to set up a Group of experts / concerned citizens to interact on environmental issues and for specific further actions to be taken in respect of these colonies.
