New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has told the Supreme Court, during his visit to the site on February 3, that it was not brought to his notice regarding the requirement of the court’s permission for the felling of trees on the road proposed in the capital’s Ridge area for widening the approach to the under-construction Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS).
L-G Saxena, in an affidavit filed in the apex court, said, “While coming back from the CAPFIMS hospital, had stopped at the site of the road widening. No one present at the said site on the date of the visit, brought to the notice of the deponent, the legal requirement of obtaining permission from this court for felling of trees”.
LG said he was informed that permission for felling/ translocation of trees is awaited from the competent authority, therefore, the work of felling of trees has not been initiated.
The apex court, last week, asked Saxena to file an affidavit, in his capacity as the chairperson of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), on the controversy in connection with the alleged illegal felling of trees for widening the approach road to the under-construction CAPFIMS.
The L-G said his visit at the site of the CAPFIMS project was scheduled, with the objective to take stock of the progress of the project, keeping in mind the significance and necessity of the project as well as the resources including the finances which have already been invested in this project.
The L-G said, that on February 3, upon reaching the hospital site and pursuant to a visual inspection, he asked the officers present at the spot to expedite the work towards the completion of the project. The project related to medical facilities for the paramilitary forces serving the nation and resources to the tune of approximately Rs 2200 crore has already stood invested from the public exchequer.
The L-G said upon enquiring about the progress of work, he was informed that permission for felling/translocation of trees is awaited from the competent authority, therefore, the work of felling of trees has not been initiated.
“On this, the Deponent informed that for the trees falling under DPTA (Delhi Preservation of Trees Act), 1994, the Forest Department had already taken approval of the Minister (Environment & Forests) and Chief Minister with my concurring opinion. The Deponent had observed that the concerned officials should expedite the communication of the approval in this regard to the DDA”, said the L-G’s affidavit.
The L-G made it clear that his direction, by no stretch of the imagination, was to bypass the mandate of law.
The L-G said he “had also not issued any instructions to not take any permission, wherever it was required in law. On the other hand, the visit on February 3, 2024, wherein the deponent asked that the project be completed expeditiously, meant that all necessary actions required to be taken, be expedited, given the seminal nature of the project.”
The L-G said the direction to expedite the project was on the bona fide belief that only permission from the Department of Forest and Wildlife, the government of NCT of Delhi was required and for which the proposal of the Forest Department of the government of NCT Delhi was approved by him. “The deponent was also not aware, nor made aware of the fact that further permission was required from this court. On the other hand, the deponent was apprised about the various hindrances in the alignment of the road, which has to be widened”, said the affidavit.
The L-G said he directed the concerned departments to club all the court cases in connection with land acquisition pertaining to the widening of roads for the purpose of defending them in a coordinated manner. He directed shifting on priority BSES electric poles, overhead cables, underground cables etc PNG gas pipelines of IGL which caused hindrances in the widening of the road, and removal of surplus excavated earth which was stacked in the CAPFIMS hospital for filling low-lying areas in the vicinity.
“It is stated that the deponent was first made aware of the fact that permission for felling of trees from this court was required, only on March 21, 2024, when a proposal of DDA was received for the constitution of a committee of experts in compliance with the directions of this court….”, said the affidavit. “As regards the fact that the actual act of felling of trees had commenced on or about 16.02.2024 was brought to the notice of the undersigned vide letter of vice chairman, DDA dated 10.06.2024 which was issued pursuant to the directions of this court”, said the L-G’s affidavit.
The L-G’s affidavit also named the officials who had given instructions to fell the trees and said they have been found to have instructed/allowed the tree cutting to take place on their own accord.
