Transplantation, felling of trees at Thal Sena Bhavan site approved
New Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal approved the proposal allowing transplantation and felling of trees to clear land for Thal Sena Bhavan the Delhi government has mandated compensatory plantation of 10 times more trees on the site in return.
The Thal Sena Bhavan will house the Indian Army’s new headquarters. Kejriwal approved the proposal against the condition that the Defence Ministry will take up the plantation of 5,790 trees as per the plan.
The Ministry of Defence had proposed the construction of the Thal Sena Bhavan in Delhi Cantonment and it intends to develop the site as a state-of-the-art facility for the army.
The Delhi CM gave his nod to speed up the work by clearing the patch, in the national interest as the new infrastructure will help the army in modernising day-to-day activities and give them access to better facilities.
The Delhi government noted that out of the 579 trees, the Ministry will transplant 476 trees, while it will only take up the felling of 103 trees. The transplantation will take place within the project site. The Delhi government has further asked the Ministry not to damage a single tree at the site other than those identified and approved by the government. If any tree apart from the approved ones is damaged, it will constitute an offence under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act 1994.
The AAP-led government has further made it mandatory for the Ministry of Defence to plant ten times the trees apart from the removal and transplantation. The MoD will be planting the new 5,790 trees around the site to maintain ecological balance taking up the total count to 5,790 new tree saplings, besides transplanting 82 per cent of the trees at the site. These trees will be planted upon the identified land parcels within 3 months from the date on which the permission for shifting of the trees will be issued.
The MoD will be responsible for maintaining the trees for the next seven years, as per Delhi government’s guidelines. Several species of trees that suit the soil and climate like Neem, Amaltas, Pipal, Pilkhan, Gular, Bargad, Desi Kikar and Arjun among other species will be planted and it will be planted as saplings of 6-8 feet height on non-forest lands.
