Delhi: Activists rise against green massacre in Pragati Maidan

Voices against green massacre in India's most polluted city have come together once again - this time to save more than 1,700 trees in Pragati Maidan.

These trees are proposed to be razed to develop an exhibition-cum-convention centre. The development comes after the removal of the old Hall of Nations and its sister Hall of Industries, Nehru Pavillion, etc. recently.

Nature enthusiasts in the city have launched an online campaign - Save 1,713 trees at Pragati Maidan - and are also sourcing money through crowd funding to hire a lawyer to "defend the mute trees". The trees proposed to be razed are mostly adult pilkhan trees, and some peepal and bargad too.

Less than a month back, residents of RWAs near Aurobindo Marg, south Delhi, forced the state government to revert its decision to axe around 30 healthy neem trees for a road-widening project. Environment minister Imran Hussain himself intervened to stop the damage.

The proposal to remove 1,713 trees from the iconic Trade Fair venue of Delhi emerged after an RTI by activist Aditya Prasad.COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION

National Buildings Construction Corporation - a central government undertaking which is redeveloping Pragati Maidan - says it has obtained requisite permission from the Delhi forest department and in fact, will plant over 17,000 trees as compensatory afforestation around east Delhi.

LC Goyal, chairman and managing director, ITPO (IndiaTrade Promotion Organisation) has said, "We have identified 24 acres of land where these trees will be planted. All the logistics are in place, and we are committed to fulfill our responsibility towards the environment. We would take all necessary steps to plant trees within the given time period."

However, citizens who are campaigning against this uprooting of huge, fully grown trees, think otherwise. Radhika Bhagat, a resident of NFC, who has filed the petition for trees in Pragati Maidan, says, "We believe cutting of trees should be avoided at all costs specially at a time of the current environmental emergency which we are facing."

"The trees should in fact be integrated into the project design to showcase India's commitment towards climate change action and sustainable development to the world," she recommends. Verhaen Khanna, who is also supporting the campaign, said they are consulting good architects on providing useful suggestions to NBCC for the same.

Delhi has already lost 15,000 trees to development in last three years, Radhika points out. Aditya Prasad, who filed the RTI, says, "It is very important to look at the impact of felling 1,700 trees in the middle of concrete Delhi. If we were living in the middle of a forest, it wouldn't probably hurt as much. But in a city like this, we must avoid it at all costs."

Also Read

CRPF accused of mowing down 25 hectares of Delhi's greenery