Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) have failed to implement compensatory afforestation after felling trees for road widening projects in the last four years, Right to Information has been disclosed in response to the request.
According to an RTI filed by a city environmentalist, the civic body “ignored” the mandatory efforts to clear forests despite obtaining necessary permissions and several reminders from the forest department.
In response, GMDA officials said that they conduct plantation drives during the monsoon, and said that 10,86,750 trees have been planted out of the target of 1,050,000 for 2023-24.
GMDA Additional Chief Executive Officer Subhash Yadav said that 35,849 trees and 10,50,901 bushes have already been planted this year. “This year we aim to plant 1,500,000 saplings of shrubs and trees. Apart from this, fencing is being done to protect the green belts and central banks. We are preparing for plantation before monsoon. Reduce pollution. To do this and increase the green cover to reduce the temperature,” he added.
Vaishali Rana, a city-based environmentalist, filed an RTI and highlighted that where trees are felled to facilitate infrastructure projects, compensatory plantations — which mitigate environmental damage Legally required for — is incomplete.
When GMDA top officials do not care about plantation of pending compensation, then what can we expect from common citizens? Despite at least ten reminders by the Forest Department in a letter dated July 27, 2022 to the Nodal Officer, Environment Wing MCG, no attention was paid to the issue. Around 3,780 trees are still awaiting compensatory plantation, we don't even know if they have acquired the land required for this endeavour,” said Rana.
Rana highlighted that seven permissions were sought, and 10 reminders were sent by the forest department. “While 502 trees were allowed to be felled, only 124 were transplanted, and no compensatory plantations were done in the last year,” Rana said, adding that the situation was not conducive to environmental protection in Gurugram. raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of the measures. “The city's green cover is constantly shrinking due to development projects, but the promise of compensatory plantations has not been fulfilled mainly due to space constraints,” he said.
Gurugram district forest officer Rajeev Tejian confirmed that both MCG and GMDA had permission to cut trees for road widening.
“They had promised to plant compensatory saplings but failed to implement it despite repeated reminders. We are still waiting for their report regarding the sapling and its location,” he said. said
Tejian noted the lack of legal provisions to take action against agencies that fail to follow such directives. “Though annual plantation drives are conducted, we do not have accurate data on their efforts,” he said.
According to a report by the Forest Survey of India, Haryana's trees fell from 1,565 sq km to 1,425 sq km between October 2019 and February 2020.
In December 2022, the first tree census was conducted in the city, as part of the state-wide census, a first for Haryana. It found that there are about 4.1 crore trees outside designated forests, with neem, rosewood, papal, banyan and eucalyptus being the most common. The project involves around 150 surveyors, taxonomists and technical staff over a period of 13 months and aims to help officials take informed decisions for managing green cover in Haryana, officials said on Tuesday.
The city's social worker said the lack of compensatory afforestation not only affects the city's ecology but also damages the reputation of civic bodies in meeting their environmental responsibilities. Urgent steps are needed to identify and acquire land for afforestation and strict monitoring needs to be implemented to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
Gauri Sarin, founder of Model Gurugram, a citizen initiative, emphasized the need for serious monitoring and accountability in compensatory plantation efforts. “It is not easy to grow trees that are lost after years. Why is the Pollution Control Board not monitoring this? Just paying lip service and planting trees on any available land to show that it has been done. There is no right way.We need a proper procedure under Ministry of Environment and Pollution Board.Why NGT? [National Green Tribunal] Interrupt every time?”
“The Gurugram administration and the forest department should be held accountable for the loss of green cover despite the massive plantation drive. We have a lot of encroached green belts which can be replaced with the help of experts,” Sarin further questioned. Comparative data on loss of green cover vs compensatory plantation and its maintenance over the years should be the first step towards building accountability.
Saran highlighted the lack of a 'Tree Act' in Haryana, which is in stark contrast to Delhi's strict regulations under the Delhi Tree Preservation Act, 1994, which would have mandated significant fines and liabilities for felling trees. Is. According to the Delhi Act, ₹34,500 should be deposited with the Forest Department and 10 saplings should be planted for every tree cut. For urban agencies, there is a deposit. ₹57,000 per tree, illegal felling of trees carries a jail term of up to seven years. The applicant can reclaim his deposit after five years, but after a forest department survey.
Manoj Kumar, executive engineer, MCG horticulture wing, said he joined in February this year and has old data. “This year we have planned to plant at least 4 lakh saplings in the city and plan to increase it by the end of the year. We will ensure compensatory plantation in further expansion works,” he said.