60 buried trees found during dig at rail body site in Dwarka: Delhi forest dept
In a report prepared after excavation on day one, the forest department said the ‘live’ trees found are mostly sheesham and desi kikar, which could be rehabilitated by taking suitable steps.
Two days after the Delhi forest and wildlife department began excavations to find proof of illegal tree felling in Dwarka’s Sector 21, where the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is carrying out the Bijwasan Rail Terminal Redevelopment Project, the department has so far found over 60 trees, including “live trees”, buried at the location.
“Excavation work began in order to find proof in the form of roots or remains or any of the trees that had been felled, but so far we have found over 60 trees which have been buried at the site, along with remains such as roots. Out of these, around 30 trees still appear to be alive and there seems to be a chance to save them, so we are re-erecting them at the same site, providing them support, water and manure, in the hopes that they are able to grow leaves again,” said a senior forest official in the west division, supervising the excavation project.
The forest department had in January, received complaints of trees being felled in the area without permission, and even as site visits by the forest department have since then found 131 fully grown trees to either be damaged or felled, the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) denied cutting or damaging any trees, following which the forest department, “in a rare move”, launched the drive.
In a report prepared after excavation on day one, the forest department said the ‘live’ trees found are mostly sheesham and desi kikar, which could be rehabilitated by taking suitable steps. “Under the ongoing investigation...by the west forest division, it is found that a lot of fully grown trees have been buried under the dumped soil and sand by the RLDA,” said the report, dated May 26, which HT has seen.
Forest department officials claim that some of the trees which appear to be alive, may have been recently buried or felled. “We are not sure how long has it been since they were buried underneath the soil, but since some appear to still be alive, it may not have been too long since they were uprooted,” the forest official said, adding that excavation work will continue for another three-four days in order to determine the actual number of trees that were felled without permission. “Even now, after trees have been discovered, we are yet to receive an official permission to fell any more trees to proceed with the project.”
When contacted, RLDA officials said no trees have been cut, damaged or felled at the site, since they took over the project. “We began work from December 2021 onwards and no trees have been felled or damaged since then. We are not aware of what may have happened previously,” an RLDA official said.
The forest department had issued an order on May 24, giving permissions to two forest guards in the west division to undertake excavation work at the site from Thursday, noting that RLDA has denied any offence despite time-lapse satellite images purportedly showing a gradual reduction in trees and green cover in the area.
“In order to establish the offence allegedly committed on the said patch of land, it is mandatory to find roots and other evidences from the land. Therefore, you are authorised to carry out digging under section 31(a) and (d) of the DPTA (Delhi Preservation of Trees Act), 1994 at the alleged site on May 26, 8 am onwards to find out the evidences to prove the claim of the alleged offence,” the notice said.
The project is intended to make an airport-style makeover of the Bijwasan railway station by 2024, including a new terminal station building spread over an area of 30,400sqm, an air concourse across 12,500sqm and a circulating road network of 123,500sqms. The new Bijwasan railway station will also have eight platforms, in place of the existing two platforms. While the project was initially awarded to the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) in 2016, the government body was shut down last year in October, following which the project is now being executed by the RLDA.
On January 20, HT reported how locals from the nearby Shahabad Mohammadpur village, adjacent to this site, had filed a complaint both with the Delhi Police and the forest department, alleging trees were being felled in the area, without any permission. Since then, four hearings were held by the forest department – the first of which occurred in February -- but RLDA officials failed to show up. In the second hearing held towards the end of February, only a junior clerk-level official was sent. In the third hearing in March, another junior level official was sent, with only a written reply denying the claims, and in the final hearing in April, senior level officials denied felling any trees. To prove that an offence had occurred by the rail body, the forest department then finally ordered digging to commence in the area.