Trees in government colonies to be transplanted after uproar

The Centre has decided to rework the design for redevelopment of government colonies and avoid cutting trees, following political pressure and criticism generated after felling trees for redeveloping seven colonies.

The National Buildings Construction Corporation, the nodal agency for constructing seven colonies, has floated an expression of interest for acquisition of tree re-location and transplantation equipment and for engaging services of trained professional entities to ensure there is minimal or no cutting of trees. After a citizen movement saw activists leading marches and hugging trees, the housing and urban affairs ministry also decided to invite citizen groups to suggest where to transplant trees.

The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who was at the receiving end of massive trolling on social networking site Twitter throughout the week. Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal and housing and urban affairs secretary DS Mishra were also present at the meeting. Baijal has been advised to set up an expert group or a group of concerned citizens to interact on environmental issues for specific actions in respect of these colonies.


The controversy saw angry exchanges between the Centre and Delhi government. Even Congress president Rahul Gandhi waded into the controversy. Gandhi took to Twitter on Thursday to clarify Congress’ stand: “In Delhi, the BJP with AAP’s approval has hacked down thousands of trees in the past 4 years for ‘development’. Even children know that trees are critical to our survival & difficult to replace. Stand with the Congress & together let’s fight this madness. #BJPAAPChokeDelhi.”

In pursuance of the presentation made in the ministry, a decision was taken to plant more than one million trees in different parts of Delhi. The ministry said these will not be saplings but trees of 8-12 feet height. The planting of fruit-bearing, flowering and other green trees will be completed in three months.