New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has held two senior officers of PWD guilty of contempt of court for willfully disobeying and breaching its directions in a case about the chopping of trees in South Delhi's Chittaranjan Park and observed that the imperative of protecting trees can never be overlooked as the city has witnessed the worst period of air pollution in the past four-five years.
The court also imposed a cost of Rs 40,000 and Rs one lakh on SDMC and Public Works Department respectively as it was found during the inspection that 13 trees had been damaged in an exercise carried out by SDMC and 10 trees were damaged by PWD and that there was also unlawful concretisation of the earth around the trees.
The court is also informed that a stretch of a road is dug up by one agency and no sooner before the work ordinarily is completed by that agency, that another agency comes along and digs up the same road yet again. This cycle continues year-round, be it for the work of laying down internet cables, electricity lines, water pipes, telephone cables, etc. Egregious breach of the court's directions is evident from the photographs shown to the court, Justice Najmi Waziri said in a 61-page order.
The matter is listed on Thursday for orders on the sentencing of the two PWD officers for the offence of contempt of court. The court proceeded to hold the officials guilty after both the Engineer-in-Chief and the Executive Engineer had not responded to the court's show-cause notice.
It was informed that despite a status-quo order passed by the court on February 25, construction work/laying of cables/pipes was continuing at the site, unmindful of the orders and in total disregard to any care or concern for the living trees.
The court was told that the trees have been rooted into the earth for possibly two decades and the work was being carried out on a road maintained by the PWD. The imperative of protecting trees can never be overlooked, as the city has witnessed the worst period of air pollution, the court said.