Delhi govt forms panel over felling of 1,100 trees in Satbari

The Delhi government on Saturday formed a fact-finding committee comprising three ministers and a secretary over ‘illegal’ felling of over 1,100 trees in Satbari area in the southern ridge of the national capital, PTI reported.

A meeting was held at the secretariat over non-submission of status report by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in a contempt case in the Supreme court over illegal felling of trees without permission.

Also read | Were trees cut on LG’s orders? SC seeks ‘clear statement’ from DDA

The committee comprising three ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Imran Hussain will submit its report to Gopal Rai, Delhi's environment and forest minister, a statement from the minister's office on the minutes of meeting said.

The report will be submitted to the top court, which is hearing a suo-motu contempt case against DDA vice-chairman Subhasish Panda over the same issue.

DDA is headed by Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena. "The e-mails of DDA engineers reveal that the trees were cut on the verbal instructions of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor," Rai claimed.

Also read | Delhi HC notice to officials over tree felling in South Ridge

Adding that the Kejriwal government is committed to protect and increase the green cover of Delhi, Rai said that the fact-finding committee is formed due to non-compliance by the forest department to submit a report on June 28.

Hearing the contempt case on Wednesday, the SC termed the illegal felling of tress as a “brazen act”. Terming the inability of DDA to ascertain whether the LG had ordered the cutting of trees as “sheer disingenuity”, the court directed Panda to go through official records and come clean on this aspect, the Hindu had reported.

Also read | SC puts DDA in dock for hiding data on tree-felling

Determined to fix accountability on the issue, the court directed Ashok Kumar Gupta, member (engineering) DDA, to file an affidavit in 10 days on events that unfolded during LG's visit to the area.

In March, the SC had directed the DDA to stop road construction without the court's prior approval. It also directed the Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI) along with three independent experts to visit the site and assess the number of trees felled and its impact on the environment.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)