A top officer said that the authority had already taken permission from forest department to cut 3,000 eucalyptus trees.
Amidst all the protests against chopping of trees, a top officer of the Noida Authority on Tuesday accepted that they have felled 2,888 eucalyptus trees for the purpose of making bio-diversity park at Sector-91 in Noida.
He said that the authority had already taken permission from forest department to cut 3,000 eucalyptus trees within the 75 acres of the forest area. The budget for making this park is Rs 50 crore.
Rajender Kumar, Deputy Director of Horticulture told City Spidey after they stopped cutting trees from the time of Eid and Raksha Bandhan as the labours went on leave.
Out of 3,000 eucalyptus trees, only 2888 trees were cut in the area of Sector-91. “On August 29, the Noida Authority will conduct a plantation drive at the Sector-91 and also requested the surrounding residents to join this movement,” Kumar said.
The authority is going to plant 5,000 saplings of traditional trees including Neem, Jamun, Banyan and many more. They will also plant 19,625 ornamental trees to make this park the most beautiful in the city.
The facilities like long cycle tracks, walkways, water bodies, and amphitheatre etc. will be made available to the public.
In the plantation drive, the authority has planned to plant over 180 species of trees; 90 species of shrubs and grasses; and 20 species of Bamboos and Palms. The Noida Authority aims to plant 4,500 trees, 99,000 shrubs, 1,000 climbers, 4.27 lakh ground covers and native grasses at the park.
The residents and environmentalist staged the protest last Saturday against this cutting of trees.
Aakash Vashistha, an environmentalist in Noida said that they are planning to take the legal route over cutting of trees and the decision to change a forest into bio-diversity park.
“The plantation drive is just an eyewash by the Noida Authority. The authority rakes big money by issuing tenders for plantation and its maintenance,” Vashistha said.
Chhavi Methi, Media Coordinator for Chipko Delhi-NCR and also an environmentalist, said that the authority just doing replacement of lost forest. “We did not want bio-diversity park and the authority should leave this place as it is,” Methi said.
