Cutting of trees in Delhi halted till next hearing, says HC

Observing that that geographically distant compensatory plantation can hardly be of any respite or actual compensation, the court in April had said that the tree officers in the national capital must give due consideration to transplantation of each tree, which is sought to be cut, before granting any further permission for cutting of trees.

After advocate Aditya N Prasad, who appears for a petitioner in a contempt case alleging victimisation of trees along Vikas Marg during construction work by PWD, on April 28 submitted that a tree is cut down every hour in Delhi under official sanction, the court had sought an affidavit detailing the number of permitted trees to be cut down in the last three years, month-wise and zone and the number of trees transplanted.

Deputy Conservator of Forests, Central, in a status report on Thursday told the court that a total of 13,490 trees were permitted to be cut and 16,456 trees were directed to be transplanted in 2019, 2020 and 2021 across Delhi.
The court observed that one wonders how the department of forest considers that Delhi has the luxury for granting such permissions. It also noted that there is nothing on record to suggest girth or age of the trees which were allowed to be cut and sought a detailed affidavit in this regard.

“Ex facie, it is evident that the large-scale denudation of fully grown trees only worsens the ecological balance in the city. The air pollution needs to be mitigated on an urgent basis and trees are a great source of mitigation in this regard,” said Justice Waziri.

The court also said that there is nothing on record to show that the 16,456 trees allegedly transplanted have survived. There is no mention of compensatory plantation which was to be undertaken under the policy, it added.
Meanwhile, Prasad also submitted that the court earlier had directed that the public be facilitated to file their complaints on the web portal of the department of forests about any victimisation or threat to trees in Delhi but the same has not been done yet. “The said weblink is not available. Ironically, there is a provision for making applications for felling of trees online. This anomaly needs to be rectified. Let it be done by Monday,” said the bench.

The court thus directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to ensure that a prominent link is created and out in public domain for persons who may wish to intimate Tree Officer or Forest Department regarding any victimisation of trees or felling of trees. Sufficient facility for uploading photographs and other details be created as may be necessary to support the intimation, it added.