E-Paper
Remove wall round 300-year-old banyan tree, Delhi high court tells authorities
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed its displeasure with the Delhi government over the failure of its tree officer to remove wall around a banyan tree, believed to be 300 years old, which was damaged due to illegal construction at Nai Sadak in Old Delhi, while asking the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to look after several such old trees in the vicinity and preserve them.
On August 6, HT had reported that Justice Najmi Waziri, while hearing a plea regarding illegal construction in the Chandni Chowk area, had directed the authorities to work on a war footing to restore the “grand old tree”, which he said is nothing less than a “heritage”. The plea was filed through advocate RK Kapoor by a resident, Nitin Gupta.
The judge had said the photographs shown to him reflect the “horrific” condition of the “grand old tree, which has seen the unfolding of the city, and that it existed from a time when the Britishers could not have even thought of coming to our country”. The judge was astonished at the condition of the tree, whose aerial roots were chopped and also damaged by cement and stones.
On Thursday, the court was informed by advocate Gautam Narayan, additional standing counsel of the Delhi government, that the stones and rods had been removed.
However, the court said the wall surrounding the roots of the tree was still there. He sought to know the reason from the counsel and expressed displeasure that the orders had not been followed.
It noted that even though some stones had been removed, the tree officer did not observe two glaring obstructions -- a wall around three sides of the tree and another structure.
“I am appalled with the non-compliance of my order on the removal of concrete…….The tree officer should have taken note of it as it prevents the growth of the roots. There is another structure around the tree, which needs to be removed. Let an affidavit be filed as to why this was not addressed by the tree officer,” the court said in its oral order.
Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for the builder, told the court that they had accepted the mistake and were ready to comply with any orders passed by the court and the authorities.
Advocate Ajay Arora, standing counsel for the North DMC, told the court that construction had completely stopped and the builder was issued a show cause notice, asking why his sanction not be revoked as they had not mentioned the presence of the tree while seeking permission for the building plan.
Asora said the commissioner had directed an enquiry against erring officers.
In compliance with the earlier order, Arora told the court that a tree census had been conducted in the area and altogether there were 1,700 trees.
The court, noting these submissions, asked the civic body’s counsel to look into after the banyan trees near Subhash Marg, Urdu Bazaar and other adjoining places and preserve them.
