New Delhi, Sep 2 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response from authorities on a plea seeking details of permissions granted for felling of trees in the capital between 2010 and 2025, also alleging that a large number of trees were cut down illegally.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notices to the Lt Governor's office, chief secretary, principal chief conservator of forests and others on the application, which also sought direction to the authorities to disclose the total number of trees felled pursuant to permission granted by the tree officer.
The court asked authorities to file their replies within two weeks and listed the matter on October 9.
The court was hearing an application filed by senior advocate Kailash Vasdev, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae (friend of court) in matters related to air pollution.
The application was filed in a pending batch of PILs over poor ambient air quality in Delhi, an issue which the court has also taken up suo motu.
Vasdev said on January 2, an RTI application was filed seeking information on tree fellings from the conservator of forests, but no reply or communication has been received.
"The proceedings before this court will manifest that a large number of trees have been illegally felled and permissions have been simultaneously granted for felling of trees for non-forest purposes. The respondents who continue to permit the felling of trees deliberately avoid furnishing information.
"It is stated that none of the authorities from whom information under the Right to Information Act has been sought have given the information till date," the plea said.
It further said authorities have stated that the information sought on classification of parks as forests does not fall within their jurisdiction.
On the other hand, none of the respondents have furnished any particulars on the RTI applications seeking information on felling of trees or permissions granted for this purpose, the plea said.
It said as per media reports, as many as 1,091 trees are to be transplanted or felled for a housing project in Sarojini Nagar for which the forest department has given approval. Further, citing an analysis conducted by a newspaper, the plea said half of the trees recently transplanted at the Central Ridge are not suitable for landscaping.
"More than 43 per cent of the trees transplanted for the Central Vista project (Kartavya Path) have perished," the plea read.
It said over 14 hectares of forest land in east and northeast Delhi having 2,038 trees are proposed to be diverted for construction of a six-lane highway between the Akshardham-National Highway 9 junction and the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
"Large number of trees are being felled from the deemed forest land in the morphed ridge. The morphological ridge bears ecological resemblance to the notified Delhi Ridge which is a constituent part of the Aravallis.
"Trees felling and construction without change of land use and/or any studies and surveys in the morphological ridge has become a norm and is causing serious damage to the ecosystem and the environment," the plea said.
It said the way in which authorities are approaching forests, felling trees and not furnishing information to the applications under the RTI Act manifests that actual felling of trees is far more than that what is reported. There is no intention of the authorities to preserve notified forests in the national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi, it contended.
The plea sought direction to authorities to give details of projects approved by the Ridge Management Board which has had jurisdiction over Delhi's Ridge area since 2010. It also sought particulars of projects with details of area covered, permitted construction in each, their locations and names and particulars of applicants.
The application also sought direction to the authorities to give statistics and details of forests in Delhi as notified between 1910 and 2025 and details of relocation of trees through compensatory afforestation between 2010 and 2025.
"Direct the respondents to furnish particulars of permissions granted by your office for felling trees to any person or authority in the NCT of Delhi between 2010 and 2025. Direct the respondents to disclose the number of trees which have been felled pursuant to permissions given by the tree officer or the other authorities for felling of trees in notified forests/green areas," it said.
