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Journalism of Courage
The Delhi High Court Monday expressed its “extreme displeasure” with officials of the Public Works Department and the Delhi Government’s forest department for failing to comply with the orders for greening arterial roads and other avenues in the city.
Advocate Aditya N Prasad, appointed as a court commissioner in a matter on tree plantation in the city, submitted before a single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh that 400 trees planted near South Extension had died on account of lack of supervision, maintenance and rampant car parking, despite assurances given to that effect before the court.
“The court expresses extreme displeasure with the response of the department of forest, GNCTD as well as the PWD. The Special Secretaries of the department of forest, GNCTD and PWD shall file affidavits indicating as to why the court orders are not being implemented and the status of plantation of trees and why the same are not being looked after,” Justice Singh directed.
The high court further sought to know about the number of inspections carried out regarding the plantation of the 400 trees which had perished and the steps taken for their preservation. The court also asked the respondent authorities to ensure that a “dedicated monitoring cell” for trees is set up before the next hearing on February 9, 2024.
Observing that the money being spent on tree plantation was coming from the Green Fund collected over several years through court orders, Justice Singh orally remarked, “Until and unless there is a ‘will’, it will not happen. The departments have to find out ways that this is a high priority for the people of Delhi. With contempt, with orders we can only push that much. I personally feel that the will is lacking. Nobody cares for Delhi. What is the problem here I don’t understand.”
The court was hearing Prasad’s plea seeking various directions with regard to tree plantation in the National Capital.
During the hearing, he argued, “All roads need to have trees alongside it. A series of orders have come that plantation journal has to be maintained, and the forest department will monitor it. No monitoring has happened. Four hundred trees planted along South Extension have died. They asked for a replacement. I have stopped it till the time they get their house in order. Each tree is costing around Rs 1,700. It is coming from a fund created by the court.”
The high court further asked the respondent authorities to file their response to the application. On May 29, it had ordered the plantation of 10,000 trees across the National Capital by utilising “over Rs 70 lakh” deposited by defaulting litigants as costs in various cases, observing that benefits provided by trees by way of oxygen to the residents of the city are “immeasurable”.
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