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Felling trees, DDA way

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI OCT. 29. In an apparent case of saviours turning destroyers, the Delhi Development Authority has been accused of illegally felling some trees in Nehru Place Greens here on Diwali eve. The accusation has come from Paharpur Business Centre which maintained the sprawling park for years until not long ago.

The business house, which has lodged a complaint at the Kalkaji police station, claims that at about 4 p.m. on October 24, some fully grown and mature trees were brought down with the help of bulldozers in the park - now maintained by the Horticulture Department of DDA - in the name of widening a road.

Averring that while the railings and barbed wires of the park had been removed before the trees were cut, the group said it was quite surprising that when contacted the Executive Engineer of the area pleaded ignorance about the matter. However, the DDA contractor, it said, admitted that the trees were cut for widening the roads.

Pointing out that the DDA contractor was, however, unable to produce any permission from the appropriate authorities as required under the law for cutting the trees, PBC said one of its employees subsequently lodged a complaint with the police, who got the felling work stopped.

Claiming that by the time the felling was stopped, two fully grown trees and several small plants had been cut, PBC lamented that this happened in a seven-acre park that was developed by it over a seven-year period under a memorandum of understanding signed with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

It was only in February this year that the possession of the park was taken back by the DDA on the ground of developing and maintaining it. But the felling of the trees has only indicated a nefarious design in the acquisition process.

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