Land exemption given for tree felling at Central Vista

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena has granted a special exemption to a 5.037-hectare government construction site from area restrictions under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act (DPTA), 1994.

- Vrinda Tulsian and Jasjeev Gandhiok

NEW DELHI: The move clears a procedural hurdle for the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to seek permission to transplant or fell 476 trees for two buildings that are part of the Common Central Secretariat (the sixth and seventh ones) at Maulana Azad Road, part of the Central Vista project.

The exemption was approved in a gazette notification dated May 30 and published on Thursday.

The exemption was granted under Section 29 of DPTA by Saxena, allowing the Tree Officer (West Forest Division) to consider a pending application concerning the transplantation or felling of 476 trees within the project site. The application was submitted through the DPTA e-Forest portal by Kushagra Singh, executive engineer at CPWD.

The usual limit for considering applications under Section 9(3) of the Act is one hectare. Since the project spans over five hectares, the Tree Officer requested an exemption to process the application legally. Section 29 of DPTA gives the power to the government to effect such exemptions.