Trees in Delhi Chopped by NBCC Despite HC Stay Order? Activist Vimlendu Jha Films Incident, Complains to Police
The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) continued to chop trees on Tuesday despite a stay by the Delhi High Court on the same till July 4.
New Delhi, June 26: The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) continued to chop trees on Tuesday despite a stay by the Delhi High Court on the same till July 4. A video shot and posted by environmentalist Vimlendu Jha showed a worker chopping trees near Sarojini Nagar in the national capital. The activist is heard confronting the worker and asking him to call the contractor.
Jha, on seeing the NBCC worker defying the HC order, called the police. He tweeted that the NBCC contractor was being brought to Sarojini Nagar for further probe. "We called PCR and the police took one supervisor into custody and we filed a case of contempt of court against NBCC for not following basic judgement. We saw trees being cut in NBCC project in Netaji Nagar," Jha said.
This comes even as the NBCC and Central Public Works Department (CPWD) had on Monday assured the Delhi High Court that they will not cut trees until July 4. Locals in the national capital have been protesting since June 22. Held under the ‘Delhi Trees SOS’ campaign, the protests were called to make people aware of the redevelopment project and urge the government to avoid cutting trees for the same.
KK Mishra, who had filed a public interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court over the same, hoped that the court took cognizance of the matter and put a stay on the order. Mishra also stated how over 20,000 trees were slated to be cut in the main South Delhi area.
Residents, on Sunday, continued their protest against felling of trees under the re-development project in Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar and Netaji Nagar areas. Environmentalist Vimlendu Jha called the entire situation “unfortunate,” saying the city at present did not need beautification but the strength to breathe.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2018 03:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).