The court of civil judge (senior division) Harsimranjit Singh has directed the municipal corporation (MC) and Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) to stop payment of contractors who have been assigned the work to remove interlocking tiles installed around 1 metre radius of trees in the city till the work is complete.
The orders were issued during the hearing of a petition filed by the Council of Engineers against the failure of MC and LIT in complying with orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
In its orders dated November 7, the court further directed the concerned authorities to submit affidavits with the court that no payment will be released to the contractors until the tiles are removed.
President of engineers’ body, Kapil Arora, said that despite repeated directions issued by the court, the authorities have still failed to comply with the directions of NGT. Interlocking tiles can still be seen installed around 1 meter radius of the trees in different parts of the city.
An executive engineer with MC, requesting anonymity, stated that the civic body has already directed the contractors to complete the work and they are also taking affidavits from contractors of new projects that the tiles will not be installed around 1 metre radius of trees. The affidavits will be submitted in the court during the next hearing of the case scheduled on December 3.
The court also gave one last opportunity to the forest range officer to submit a report at the next hearing of the case regarding the number of trees in the city.
{{/usCountry}}The court also gave one last opportunity to the forest range officer to submit a report at the next hearing of the case regarding the number of trees in the city.
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