Minister demands document from Centre on colonies' redevelopment
NEW DELHI: Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain on Tuesday wrote to Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Harsh Vardhan and Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri demanding various clearances for a number of Central government employees' colonies, for which thousands of trees were to be cut in the national Capital. The Delhi government also ordered stern action against cutting of some trees despite the high court order of stay.
The documents he sought were an Environment clearance dated November 27, 2017, and all the other environment clearances granted by the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry for these General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies along with the Environment Impact Assessment reports for these projects. "In order to fully understand/appreciate the concerns of all the stakeholders and to ensure equity and justice to all, it is requested that following documents may kindly be made available to the Environment and Forest Department, Government of NCT of Delhi for further examination," he wrote in the letter to Harsh Vardhan. He also demanded a copy of the assessment by the Central Groundwater Authority with regard to the impact on groundwater and complete project report and the MoU between the government and the NBCC or any other party with respect to these projects.
In the letter to Puri, he also said that he was "made to understand that these projects are being taken up on behalf of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs".
Meanwhile, 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 also wrote a letter to the Delhi government's environment minister Imran Hussain on the same. Hussain directed the officials to take stern action against the issue. But the Delhi Police noted that no FIR has been registered on the matter. Talking to Millennium Post, Jha said, "The police are not taking the FIR. So, I will move the court on Wednesday morning."
