The Delhi Development Authority as well the Lieutenant Governor’s office are under fire from the Supreme Court over the hacking of around 1,100 trees for the widening of a 2.2-km stretch – part of the road from Chattarpur Main Road towards Fatehpur Beri.
Hearing a petition by a social activist, the court had seen the DDA’s action as its contempt, since the trees were part of the legally protected Delhi Ridge area and were cut without waiting for the court’s permission. The DDA, on the other hand, had reportedly been under pressure from the Centre to improve traffic flow to the AIIMS-CAPFIMS campus in Maidan Garhi, and reports alleged that the L-G, who is the chairman of the authority, had a role to play in expediting the felling of these trees in February.
