NEW DELHI: Just as you approach the newly configured stretch on Mathura Road at Sundar Nagar that was part of the Pragati Maidan transit corridor revamp, you see an island of trees in the middle of the busy corridor. Vehicles slow down and go past on either side of it, well aware that it poses a risk to life and limb in what is otherwise a wide, fast road.Despite officials of the Public Works Department and Indian Trade Promotion Organisation requesting Delhi government’s forest department for permission to have the trees transplanted somewhere else, green obstruction continues to exist there.”There are these three trees right in the middle of the road just ahead of the Sundar Nagar underpass. Even though an additional lane was added during the redevelopment of the road, the trees continue to slow down traffic flow and to pose a danger to motorists,” said an ITPO official. “Because of this, we sought permission from the forest department in December, upon which forest officials inspected the place, but denied us the permission to chop down the trees or have them transplanted in another place. The officials were of the view that the trees did not pose a threat to people.”PWD and ITPO claimed that after this denial, the same application was sent again to the forest department for reconsideration. “We also sent a letter to the traffic police intimating them of the danger posed by the trees,” one official said.The forest department is believed to be reconsidering the plea by ITPO. A forest official told TOI, “We are reconsidering the plea to have the three trees on Mathura Road moved to another site. They are not very large trees. We are still looking into the legality and see how permission can be granted.”According to the forest department, since this entire segment on Mathur Road is a deemed forest, as was also pointed out by Delhi High Court in a recent order, there was a lack of clarity on whether the trees were protected under the Forest Act and thus under the jurisdiction of the central government or under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, and so falling in the state government’s ambit. A 1997 forest department affidavit says that any stretch along a road, drain, etc., is considered a forest if there are over 100 trees on that stretch or on a cumulative 2.5 acres along the stretch. The affidavit names several such roads in the city deemed to be forest areas as defined in the affidavit.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/how-island-of-trees-poses-threat-on-this-key-stretch-in-delhi/articleshow/98220879.cms