In response to the illegal felling of 1,100 trees by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in South Delhi's Reserve Forest Area, the Kejriwal government convened a cabinet meeting on Saturday. Despite health issues, Cabinet Minister Atishi participated online. In the meeting, all the ministers unanimously decided to constitute a three-minister Fact-Finding Committee, comprising ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and Imran Hussain, to investigate the orders behind the tree cutting.
The Supreme Court is currently addressing this case, demanding accountability. Communications between some DDA engineers suggest that the trees were cut on verbal orders from the Lieutenant Governor (LG) after he visited the Ridge area. The government has repeatedly sought a status report from the Forest Department, but it remains unreceived.
In a press conference with cabinet ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Imran Hussain, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the Kejriwal government is very serious about protecting the people of Delhi from pollution and natural calamities like heat waves. For this, continuous work is being done to increase the green belt in Delhi.
The Delhi Environment Minister continued, stating, that in the last assembly elections, CM Arvind Kejriwal had given 10 guarantees to Delhiites. One of these guarantees was that the green area in Delhi will be increased by planting 2 crore saplings within 5 years. We are happy that in collaboration with all the agencies working in Delhi, we have achieved the target of planting 2 crore saplings in just 4 years. People’s concern has further increased after the heat wave this year. In view of this, the government has decided to plant 64 lakh saplings in the next financial year in collaboration with all agencies.
Minister Gopal Rai mentioned, “A shocking incident has come to light from Chhatarpur, Satbari in Delhi that in February, the DDA violated all the rules and cut 1,100 trees without permission from any agency or government. The hearing of this case is going on in the Supreme Court. The court is repeatedly asking the Vice Chairperson of DDA on whose orders 1,100 trees were cut illegally in the capital Delhi.”
“The Apex court is asking whether this order was given by the LG because the communication of some DDA engineers shows that the LG had visited the forest reserve area of Chhatarpur and these trees were cut on his verbal orders. The Supreme Court wants to know the truth behind this. The court has asked the Vice Chairman of DDA to file his reply by the next hearing. Also, in the hearing of June 26, the Supreme Court had asked the Forest Department to file its status report,” he stated.
“After getting the information from different Media, a meeting was held with the senior officer of the Forest Department at 4:30 pm on June 26 at the Delhi Secretariat. Which Forest Department officer informed that they had sent two notices to DDA on March 5 and 22 regarding the illegal cutting of trees in two different areas of Delhi, but no response came,” he added.
The Delhi Environment Minister further added that seeing the seriousness of this matter, I instructed them to submit a written report of all the incidents that happened from February till now by 11 am on June 27. But when the report did not reach us by 11 am, then our office contacted the officials of the Forest Department. They said that you first give us instructions in writing, and after that, we will submit all the reports. After this, we gave written instructions to the Forest Department along with the minutes of the meeting to send us a report of all the facts by 11 am on June 28. But no report reached us even on June 28,
Minister Gopal Rai said that the senior officer of the Forest Department said that he is on leave. After which we sent the next notice on 28 June, since this is a very serious matter, Delhiites are facing a crisis. For this, we are trying to increase every tree in Delhi. On the other hand, 1,100 trees were cut down in the country’s capital without permission. This will not be tolerated at any cost. But even after sending reminder notices, the Forest Department did not submit its report.
“Acknowledging the gravity of this situation, a meeting of all the ministers was held today and it was unanimously decided by all the cabinet ministers that a Fact Finding Committee of three cabinet ministers will be formed. Delhi’s Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, PWD Minister Atishi and Food and Supplies Minister Imran Hussain will be part of this committee. This committee will find out the truth of such a large number of trees cut in Delhi. After this, we will put it before the Supreme Court. This can prevent any kind of illegal action in the green area of Delhi,” Minister Gopal Rai concluded.