The clause permits pruning of tree branches of girth sizes up to 15.7 cm without reference to the tree officer.
This news report was authored by Malavika Prasad and published by The Indian Express on 24 May 2023. The article talks about a case represented by AnantLaw.
The Delhi High Court has stayed a provision of the Delhi government’s guideline which permits pruning of tree branches of girth sizes up to 15.7cm without reference to the tree officer and observed that it would be “a creeping legalised genocide of trees and Delhi would soon resemble nothing but a mass of concrete”.
A single judge bench of Justice Najmi Waziri in its May 10 order said, “With each redevelopment of a house or building, abutting city streets, if applications are moved by the land-owning agency such as the PWD, DDA, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Cantonment Board, etc. for cutting of trees in front of private houses, in order to facilitate construction of new building/houses, and permission to cut the trees is granted simply on the averment that the trees were coming in the way of reconstruction, then sooner or later the city will be bereft of tree lined avenues and a large part of its green cover.”
Client: Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Bagai, Padam Shree
Prof. Dr. Sanjeev Bagai & Ors. v. Department of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors.