Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh has warned the local administration against indiscriminate cutting of trees in the name of road widening and setting up of Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) in the city.
“I am not against development and widening of roads, but I am definitely not going to allow indiscriminate slaughter of trees in Amritsar some of which are as old as 200 years”, he said in a statement here on Wednesday referring to indiscriminate cutting of trees in the city.
He said proper procedure must be adopted with due clearances from the departments concerned like the forests and the environment.
The authorities also must ensure that they plant as many trees as they cut at some other places as was the standard practice everywhere, he added.
“I have seen several trees being chopped off in the name of road widening, while these could easily have been saved. We can’t allow wanton slaughter of our trees in the holy city, said Amarindar.
The for mer Punjab chief minister also appreciated city residents for their concern over depleting green cover in the city, which was being tonsured off in the name of development, while no new trees were being planted as replacements.
{{/usCountry}}The for mer Punjab chief minister also appreciated city residents for their concern over depleting green cover in the city, which was being tonsured off in the name of development, while no new trees were being planted as replacements.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, hundreds of trees were cut in the name of what was then called Personal Rapid Transport System (PRTS), he said, adding the system never saw the light of the day, and now the same was being done in the name of BRTS, which nobody was sure whether it would ever reach its l o gical conclusion.
Amarinder war ned that if the norms were not followed, he would move the court. “We cannot afford and allow Amritsar to be denuded of its green cover,” he made it categorically clear.