Forest Dept imposes Rs 5 lakh fine on NCERT for cutting of trees
New Delhi: A fine of over Rs 5 lakh has been imposed on the NCERT for heavily pruning 33 trees and cutting five without permission from the Forest Department of Delhi government inside its campus on Aurobindo road here, an official said on Monday.
Acting on a complaint from an NGO on August 7, a team of forest rangers visited the campus of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and found that five trees were cut and 33 heavily pruned, the Forest Department official said.
Under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, permission from authorities is required for cutting and even pruning of trees.
The official said the NCERT campus had applied for permission to cut and prune trees, but before the Forest Department could take a look into the application, the trees were pruned and some cut.
A report was submitted on August 8 by the forest rangers who visited the spot and a decision has been taken to impose a fine of over Rs 5 lakh on the NCERT registrar for the cutting of trees, the official said, adding that the case has been compounded.
Complainant Verhaen Khanna said the fine should be a lesson for everyone and it would have cost way less if the authorities concerned had just waited for grant of permission from the Forest Department.
"A whole row of trees along the fence were heavily pruned and there were eucalyptus and semal trees among the ones that were chopped," he said.
The NCERT has, however, claimed that the trees were cut under the "occupation" of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration which is a separate entity.
A few days ago, the Department had issued a penalty of Rs 60,000 on the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) after trees in south Delhi's Thyagraj Nagar were found to be in poor condition, while one was also found to be uprooted.
The fine was imposed recently after a site inspection had taken place at both Thyagraj Nagar and Netaji Nagar, where the proposed redevelopment project is planned to take place, with both construction sites found to be dumping debris around the trees.
