HC orders stay till July 4 on tree felling in six south Delhi colonies

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Monday imposed an interim stay till July 4 on tree felling for redevelopment in six colonies.An orthopaedic surgeon has filed a Public Interest Litigation before the High Court and has sought to set aside  the terms of reference (ToR) and the clearances granted to the project by the Environment Ministry by submitting that it would lead to felling of over 16,500 trees.

The PIL further submitted before the court that the six South Delhi colonies where the trees would be felled were Sarojini Nagar, Naoroji Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar, Mohammadpur and Kasturba Nagar.

Delhi High Court on June 22 had declined to put on hold the felling of trees sanctioned by the Centre in connection with the re-development of six south Delhi colonies by the NBCC and the Central Public Works Department.

National Buildings Construction Corporation will chop off an additional 16,500 trees in Sarojini Nagar and Nauroji Nagar areas to construct flats for Central Government Employees.

Locals and activists had opposed the project and decided to launch a 'Chipko Movement' in Delhi and hug the trees in a bid to save them from the axe.

Justices Vinod Goel and Rekha Palli today, after hearing the PIL, passed an order imposing an interim stay on tree felling. NBCC agreed before the court not to cut the trees till July 4 to redevelop the six south Delhi colonies.(UNI)