LG nod for tree impact assessment in Kirari for trunk drain project

Delhi LG grants exemption for a 3.2-hectare site, allowing review for tree felling/transplantation for a trunk drain project affecting 84 trees.

New Delhi

The exemption was granted through a gazette notification dated January 1 under Section 29 of the DPTA. (HT Archive)

In a move that could impact up to 84 trees, lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena granted a special exemption to a 3.2-hectare site in west Delhi’s Kirari from area restrictions under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA), 1994, allowing a tree officer to examine an application seeking permission for tree felling or transplantation for a trunk drain project.

The exemption allows the tree officer (north forest division) to consider the entire 3.2-hectare site as a single project, as otherwise, a tree officer can ordinarily examine applications only up to a maximum area of one hectare. The trunk drain project, which runs from Kirari to a supplementary drain near Rithala, would otherwise have been ineligible for consideration because of its size, officials aware of the matter said.

The exemption was granted through a gazette notification dated January 1 under Section 29 of the DPTA, which empowers the government to relax provisions of the act in public interest. “In public interest, the Lieutenant Governor hereby exempts an area of 3.2 hectare from the limitation of maximum one hectare area under sub-section (3) of Section 9 of the said Act,” the notification reads.

According to the notification, the application was submitted by the Delhi Development Authority’s Rohini project division through the DPTA e-Forest portal, seeking permission for transplanting or felling of 84 trees affected during Phase-1 of the construction. After examining the proposal, the tree officer (north forest division) sought an exemption from the area restriction, citing the statutory limitation under the act.

As with similar exemptions granted in recent months, the order makes it clear that the relaxation does not amount to permission to fell or transplant trees. “This notification for exemption under Section 29 of the DPTA, 1994, in any case, shall not be considered as permission for transplantation or felling of trees,” the gazette states.

The next step in the process necessitates the tree officer to independently scrutinise the application under the provisions of the DPTA, the Delhi Preservation of Trees Rules, 1996, and relevant guidelines and court directions. A forest official said the tree officer can still reject the application or reduce the number of trees impacted.

This is the latest instance of the LG invoking Section 29 of the DPTA to exempt projects from the one-hectare area cap. In recent months, similar exemptions have been granted for the redevelopment of the New Delhi railway station, the Common Central Secretariat project, a flyover at the Nand Nagri–Gagan Cinema junction in northeast Delhi, and the General Pool Residential Accommodation project at Kasturba Nagar Phase-2.