The court has pulled up the DDA over the felling of 1100 trees in Delhi Ridge Coming down heavily on the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the felling of trees in the capital's Ridge area, the Supreme Court today said it cannot brush aside "brazen acts" that lead to the destruction of the environment. "If authorities are not performing their statutory and constitutional duties, the court has to give a loud signal to all authorities that the environment cannot be damaged in such fashion," a bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said, according to Live Law. The court, which was hearing a suo motu contempt case against the DDA vice-president, also proposed a large-scale tree plantation drive in the national capital.
This comes days after the city reeled under an unrelenting heatwave that claimed many lives. The court asked the DDA how a Tree Protection Act can be implemented and said it will give instructions to civic authorities to conduct a tree plantation campaign. The vacation bench today fielded tough questions to the DDA on how trees in the Delhi Ridge area were felled despite a Supreme Court order against cutting trees in the area.
"It is very shocking if the trees were cut despite knowing that it cannot be done without the permission of the Supreme Court," Justice Oka said. He then asked if Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had asked DDA officials to remove the trees. Mr Saxena is the chairman of the DDA.
"We are dealing with a very serious issue? 1100 trees, .
