Gurugram: Trees axed, residents protest

Gurugram: Hundreds of residents of South City-2 raised objections after there was a report of over five trees being felled for building a jogging track. Moreover, the trees were felled without prior sanction that further enraged the residents.

Massive felling of trees at the prime real estate area in the past has resulted in citizens coming out on the streets to stop such moves. Owing to the citizens' pressure, most of the works in the city have also been put on hold.

The most recent example was the government not going ahead to build a road passing through the Aravallis. Once considered as a preferred destination by many people for shifting their residential address because of its green spaces, Gurugram today is choking under the depleting green cover.

According to an official data, the green cover of Gurugram district is a meagre eight per cent while that of Gurugram city is only 3 per cent. This green cover also includes the forest area of Aravallis that too in a recent report by Wildlife Institute of India is receding.

Even though the state forest departments had targeted to enhance the green cover of the city to 10 per cent and subsequently 20 per cent in the coming years, it has not been able to meet its target.

Ironically, Delhi which has 10 times the population of Gurugram has a much higher green cover than its neighbour. In the late '80s and mid-'90s, a large number of people migrated from Delhi to Gurugram because of vast open and green spaces in Gurugram.