The Delhi High Court Monday said Delhi cannot afford to lose 77,000 trees, and asked the forest department to inform it about the number of trees illegally cut and those lost during storms in the national capital. The court passed the order after it was informed that 77,420 trees have been permitted to be cut or transplanted in 2019, 2020 and 2020 — 29,946 by tree officers under section 9 of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act and 47,474 by the government under section 29 of the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA). Advocate Aditya N Prasad, who represents a petitioner in a contempt case alleging victimisation of trees, told the court that the data means three trees have been cut every hour in the past three years. He further told the court that the number would be much higher if other data like the number of trees cut illegally or under forest clearance, is obtained. Justice Najmi Waziri asked the forest department to file an affidavit on the missing data, and also respond to the submission regarding three trees being lost every hour in Delhi under official sanction. A total of 47,474 trees were permitted to be transplanted or cut between 2019 and 2021 to pave the way for various official projects or constructions in the national capital after the Delhi government granted exemptions under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA), 1994, official data reveals. Under section 29 of the DPTA, the government in the public interest can exempt any area or any species of trees from all or any provisions of the Act. The government passed 52 such notifications between 2019 and 2021 to grant exemptions for various constructions including Dwarka Expressway, Urban Extension Road-II, Delhi Metro extension, expansion and restoration of Parliament building and various other developmental works, as per the reply. Out of the 47,474 trees impacted by the exemptions, 32,048 were asked to be transplanted. The court earlier has been told 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 by tree officers.
