Delhi transport dept. fined ₹40 lakh for failing tree plantation

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Transport Department has been fined ₹40.18 lakh and had its security deposit of ₹2.82 crore seized by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to plant over 5,600 saplings as compensation for trees cut down during the construction of a bus depot in Burari in 2019.

The Forest Department, which originally granted permission to fell or transplant 495 trees, has now taken over the responsibility for the compensatory plantation. The department has requested the Transport Department to provide a 50,000-square-meter land parcel for this purpose.

In a letter dated March 7, 2024, the Transport Department claimed that 1,000 saplings were planted between February 2020 and August 2022 at the Burari complex, with 830 of them surviving. However, a joint inspection on May 1, 2024, revealed that the compensatory plantation could not be physically located.

The Forest Department noted that out of the 168 trees designated for transplantation in 2019, only 27 had survived, with 141 either drying up or missing. As a result, an additional compensatory plantation of 705 trees has been ordered.

In line with the NGT’s directions, the Forest Department has forfeited the ₹2.82 crore security deposit under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, and requested an additional ₹40.18 lakh for the plantation of 705 saplings. They have also asked for a 50,895-square-meter land parcel to carry out this plantation over the next seven years.

The NGT’s action follows a petition filed in February by Delhi resident Pramod Tyagi, who alleged that over 3,000 trees were felled for the bus depot. The Forest Department has been directed to provide detailed records of the permissions granted and the actual number of trees cut down.