Dwarka: For over a week now, residents of Sector 6 in Dwarka have been trying to save the trees in the vicinity. Incessant concretisation around the trees and their roots are resulting in shortening their life span and ultimately harming our ecosystem.
According to them, protocols under The Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994 have been consistently flouted. Madhukar Varshney, founder of 'Rise Foundation', a NGO that focuses on protection of the environment, said that many cases of concretisation have been reported from Dwarka's Sector 6. He told CitySpidey, "The dumping of construction and demolition waste on trees' roots instead of soil is damaging our ecosystem. The concretisation will kill the trees in Dwarka." He also added that the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, is also not being followed in the area.
On May 31, CitySpidey had reported how concretisation was killing the trees in Dwarka. A day later, the 50-year-old tree was set upright. On June 5, after two stories were published on concretisation, Dwarka residents moved an online petition against concretisation around trees.
Construction and demolition waste is generated whenever any construction or demolition activity takes place in the area, for example: building roads, bridges, flyover, subway etc.
According to the NGT Act, 2010, concretisation around trees is harmful for root aeration and also the percolation of water. It could ultimately lead to the death of the trees. It is, therefore, "brought to the notice of all governments departments under the government of the national capital territory of Delhi and the general public that concretisation of trees not only damages the tree and is an offence under Section 8 of Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1993 and will amount to a violation of Hon'ble National Green Tribunal's act orders," the Act reads.
“It is shocking to see that NGT rules and Delhi Tree Preservation Act have been completely ignored in Dwarka. Such activities are like a slow death to the natural lungs of Delhi. Ecosystems are destroyed due to dumping concrete waste on the trees' roots instead of soil. We want citizens' participation in such types of projects. We will talk to the contractors and raise a concern with the Forest Department," Varshney added.
On June 4, Varshney wrote on Twitter that he met the officials, including the contractor and reported this incident. The officials have assured that the NGT guidelines will be followed, said Varshney.
