Delhi HC asks forest department for details on green cover

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday asked the state’s forest department to inform it where replantation was done after cutting down nearly 53,000 trees over the past 15 years.
The court also wanted to know the revenue earned by the government by felling these trees.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva decided to ask for the information after affidavits filed by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) revealed they cut 46,529 and 6,934 trees respectively during the period 2000-15 for various projects.
In its reply, DMRC informed the court that it paid over Rs 68 crore to the forest department for compensatory plantation of trees, while DDA said it cut 6,934 trees and planted 74,951 trees under compensatory tree plantation programme during the 15-year period.
“DMRC in its affidavit has said that 46,529 trees have been cut its Phase I, II and III for which necessary permission has been taken from the forest department on condition of compensatory plantation for which approximately Rs 68 crore have been deposited for plantation of over 5.18 lakh trees in the ratio of 1:10,” the bench recorded, while giving a final chance to the authorities to furnish all the details by May 27.
HC is hearing a suo moto matter on rising pollution levels in the city. Senior advocate Kailash Vasudev, appointed amicus curiae by the court to assist it in the matter, drew HC’s attention to repeated digging of roads and pavements by various agencies, saying it is one of the biggest sources of dust pollution in the Delhi.
The court had also observed that the notified green cover which was supposed to be 30% had fallen to 10.2% in 2009 and may be much lower today and sought an action plan from Delhi government and the Centre to restore it.