Remove concrete around trees at Bhikaji Cama Place immediately: Delhi HC
Prasad further drew the court’s attention to the RTI response by the department, wherein he had made the complaint on August 23 which was forwarded to the division concerned on October 10 -- a delay of about 48 days.
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Prasad pointed to photographs of the said activity and an RTI response submitted by the forest department on his complaint about this activity. (File Photo)
The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed authorities to remove concretisation around trees at Bhikaji Cama Place complex immediately.
The HC was hearing a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against officials of the DDA and Delhi government’s forest department for violation of various court orders on the issue of concretisation of trees in the city; setting up a helpline as well as websites where complaints can be lodged by citizens on damage to trees; and a specifically directed manner in which “prompt” action is to be taken once the complaint has been received.
Advocate Aditya N Prasad, petitioner in the contempt plea, argued that despite various orders, there is very little movement by authorities in this regard. Prasad said on August 23, he had noticed construction activity within the vicinity of standing trees in Bhikaji Cama Place Complex, maintained by DDA, with what appeared to be a ‘chabutara’ being built around the trees. Upon enquiry from workers at the site, it was stated the DDA was doing this for ‘beautification’ purposes.
Prasad pointed to photographs of the said activity and an RTI response submitted by the forest department on his complaint about this activity.
Questioning the need for the “beautification”, a single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice to the DDA and forest department officials and directed, “the respondents shall ensure that concretisation be removed immediately”.
Prasad further drew the court’s attention to the RTI response by the department, wherein he had made the complaint on August 23 which was forwarded to the division concerned on October 10 — a delay of about 48 days.
On this, Justice Singh said, “The same can by no stretch of imagination be called a prompt response,” and called for a detailed status report on this point by the department. Meanwhile, the counsel for the department said he would find out and get back on the issue of delay, stating that a 48-hour delay is “troublesome”.
“This is not going in the right direction. I don’t know whether you need to rejig your department. Whether you need to take some disciplinary action. Please understand this is painful… the concrete is troubling,” Justice Singh further orally said.
The HC also directed the conservator of forests to submit a detailed status report on the extent of violations of the order on concretisation of trees and remedial measures undertaken.
Prasad argued during the hearing that the moment there is a “compacted soil structure”, the roots of the trees cannot breathe. Giving an example of this, he submitted, “When all trees on Akbar Road had started dying, the NDMC wrote to the forest research institute asking why (this happened). The institute… did a study and said it was due to the compaction of soil, putting wires through the roots, and cutting roots within one metre. This becomes a bigger issue.”
Prasad further argued that the National Green Tribunal passed an order in 2013 mandating leaving a one-metre open space around the trunk of trees. He further pointed to the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation’s “Guidelines for Greening of Urban Areas and Landscaping” issued in 2000 for Delhi which states that “compactness of soil should be avoided within at least one metre around the tree” and digging near trees should be avoided.
The matter is next listed on January 30, 2024.
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