Gurgaon residents campaign against setting of petrol pump

Residents of Gurgaon’s DLF Phase 1 have joined hands for a common cause - prevent setting up of a petrol pump next to their homes.

Residents of Gurgaon’s DLF Phase 1 have joined hands for a common cause - prevent setting up of a petrol pump next to their homes.

Residents of Gurgaon’s DLF Phase 1 have joined hands for a common cause - prevent setting up of a petrol pump next to their homes.

From online petition to door-to-door collections for a court battle, these nature lovers are up in arms against state-owned oil firm Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for their alleged attempts to destroy the green belt in their neighbourhood.

Settled in faraway Norway for more than 30 years, Raminder Johar had come to India for a family wedding. But when he found that a patch of trees behind his ancestral home in E block has been uprooted for setting up the petrol vend, he put all other engagements on hold and vowed to start a campaign to avert the “environmental disaster”.

Sixty one-year-old Johar, a government employee who deals with drug abuse cases in Norway, has been going door-to-door in the colony seeking contributions for waging a court battle on the issue.

“I know this area for three decades. How can they uproot trees from a designated green belt? This is a blatant violation of environmental norms,” Johar said.

He has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the ministry of overseas Indian Affairs (now merged with the ministry of external affairs) seeking his intervention in the matter.

Businessman Vinod Trishal and lawyer Anupam Sharma accompany Johar in collection money needed for the court case.

“There is no pressing need for a petrol pump in the vicinity when we have one close by. And not at least at the cost of environment,” Trishal said.

They have collected Rs 78,000 so far.

A resident of E block, Supriya Deverkonda, has done her bit by initiating an online petition on change.org against the idea of setting the petrol pump in a residential area. Deverkonda, 37, works with a corporate firm.

The petition “Say no to petrol pump in ward 34 behind houses in E-8, E-12 and E-6 in DLF Phase 1” urges chief minister of Haryana and HUDA to withdraw permission, if any, given to the oil firm.

Earlier, the residents took to the streets and also filed a petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over felling of trees at the site on Gurgaon-Faridabad road. The next date of hearing is on April 4.

“We have failed to understand how can they (government) permit to set up a petrol pump in such a small plot (1500 sq yd) and that too when people live so close,” RS Rathee, president of DLF Qutab Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association. said.

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