154,000 years of tree life lost in 3 yrs to felling for govt projects: Delhi HC

Tree life refers to the amount of time a tree would have remained alive and extended its benefit to society and the environment.

Noting that the city has lost “154,000 years of tree life” because of tree felling activities to facilitate infrastructure projects, the Delhi high court said government projects should be executed while keeping environmental issues in mind.

The court said that officials should start the compensation process by planting 300 trees, 100 of which should be planted in an area opposite the Supreme Court. (Mint file photo)

Tree life refers to the amount of time a tree would have remained alive and extended its benefit to society and the environment.

Reproducing the forest department’s data on tree cutting, justice Najmi Waziri observed that 77,420 trees have been permitted to be cut in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and if the average age of each of these trees is 20 years, then the national capital has lost “over a lakh years of tree life”.

“Each felled tree only aggravates the ever increasing air and noise pollution. Government projects would necessarily be required to keep these environmental issues in consideration. No amount of concrete-scaping can replace the loss of or damage to the green cover,” the court said in an order dated July 13, which was released in the public domain on Tuesday.

The order came on a contempt petition filed by green activist Neeraj Sharma, who alleged that several trees on VIkas Marg were damaged during civil works carried out by the public works department (PWD) and that the officials concerned were in contempt for having violated previous court orders issued for the protection and preservation of trees.

The order also sentenced three PWD officials, who were held guilty of contempt on June 3, for violating the previous judicial orders and causing extensive damage to trees on Vikas Marg during ongoing civil works. While two of the officials were sentenced to two months in prison, the third official was sentenced to four months in prison.

However, the court put the jail terms on hold till the next date of hearing, after noting the assurance of officials that they would plant 830 trees to “mitigate their wrongdoings”.

Rejecting the explanations of the officials for their failure to prevent concretisation of trees during a street-scaping project of the government, the court said the work was executed without “any ostensible concern for the green cover, in a city which gasps for fresh air every moment”.

It said that simply because it was a project on behalf of the government, “purportedly in the larger public interest”, it cannot be carried out in breach of law.

“If there was such concern and caution envisaged in the project, then it should have been duly implemented, without breaching the court directions,” Waziri said, adding that the engineers/officers who execute the project on site are expected to abide by the rules, and their deliberate breach of the law cannot be blamed on the government.

The court said that officials should start the compensation process by planting 300 trees, 100 of which should be planted in an area opposite the Supreme Court. The matter would next be heard on July 21.

In another case, the high court has also asked the DDA to take immediate measures to stop garbage from being thrown in the Ridge area and directed them to install cameras, including night-vision cameras, to monitor and identify polluters and initiate against them.

The suggestion came after the court was told that garbage, including medical waste, was being thrown there.

“A net fencing of the stretch where the garbage is otherwise thrown will also be explored and put in place, if possible within a week from today. The visual relief to citizens passing by that area would not be blocked by any such fencing or by raising of walls,” said justice Waziri in an order issued on July 14.