2,250 trees to be freed of cement

NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will remove concrete from near the roots of over 2,250 trees this monsoon.

NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will remove concrete from near the roots of over 2,250 trees this monsoon.

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But experts said the Delhi civic agencies first choke tree roots and then get rid of the cement on the pretext of saving the trees. This vicious cycle results in the wastage of public money.

“When contractors lay a road or a footpath, every empty space causes monetary loss. Thus, many agencies, first concretise trees in the name of road and pavement reconstruction, and then dig out the concrete around the trees when a report has to be submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT),” said Aditya Prasad, an environmental lawyer, fighting concretisation of trees in Delhi.

In 2016, the NDMC alone de-concretised over 3,340 trees in its area. In 2013, more than 2,600 were saved. An affidavit filed by the NDMC reads that in 2010, 6,000 trees were freed from concrete traps.

“If the figures are true, then all big trees in the area should have been de-concretised by now. But that is not the case,” he said.

All other road agencies, the three municipal corporations (east, south, and north), the Public Works Department (PWD), the Delhi Development Authority ( DDA), and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) have shown worse performance. None of the agencies have shown any data of de-concretisation.

The central rules for de-choking trees were issued in 2000. The Delhi high court in 2007, while hearing a petition filed by an environment NGO Kalpvriksha, directed the authorities to free trees of concrete.

Two years later, the court, while hearing another petition filed by SC Jain, ordered a survey in Delhi on the status and plans for de-concretisation. The Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (1994) also has provisions for penal action for those who trap trees in concrete.

The offender is liable to pay a fine of Rs 28,000. They will have to plant five saplings for cutting and killing trees by choking.

In a 2013 order, the NGT said, “If trees are de-concretised, they are again concretised for economic benefits. Again time is taken and efforts are made for de-concretisation. Concretisation is wastage of public money, besides resulting in environmental hazards.”

A senior NDMC official, however, said all new saplings have been planted, keeping in mind the tribunal guidelines. The council has also completed at least 60% of de-concretisation.

Some of the trees in the NDMC area are around 80 to 100 years old, planted during the British era.