Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

New Delhi:

No trees will be cut in the redevelopment process of seven settlements in South Delhi. Mr Puri said Thursday that he had badured that the green cover of the national capital would not be "damaged" and that steps would be taken to improve it.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs stated that the agencies – the NBCC and the CPWD – – entrusted with the implementation of the redevelopment project were invited to rework and redraw the plans to avoid cutting trees.

However, some trees may be transplanted to another location and the CNBC has issued a statement of interest for the acquisition of trees. An official statement said: [TRADUCTION] "I have always maintained that the plant cover in Delhi would not be damaged.Teps will be taken to further improve it.As stated previously, no tree will be now cut off in the process of redeveloping the Delhi settlements, "Puri said in a tweet.

His comment came after a meeting on the proposed tree cutting with Delhi Governor Anil Baijal Udai Pratap Singh, Vice President of DDA, Anoop Kumar Mittal, President of NBCC, Abhai Sinha, Director General of CPWD, and DS Mishra, Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs, among others

"I chaired a meeting of all stakeholders. rework and redesign the plans. We will also go ahead with a compensation plan of planting 1 million trees in the next 3 months. Citizen groups will be asked to suggest locations for transplantation, "he said in another tweet.

Amid a game of environmental blame, Puri said that all authorizations had previously been granted by the Delhi Government Forest Department, the recommendation of the Delhi Environment Minister, Imran Hussain

"I have now asked the relevant agencies (CPWD and NBCC) to rework the plans. I hope the Delhi government will follow this example in all future plans, "he added.

The government had announced that it would cut more than 14,000 trees to build more than 25,000 apartments for government employees in seven settlements in southern Delhi The proposal has sparked strong criticism from green activists, politicians and citizens.

Addressing reporters on the issue, DS Mishra, Secretary for Urban Affairs and Housing, said: "No trees will be cut down to redevelop govt colonies. During the meeting, it was decided to plant more than one million trees, 8 to 12 feet tall, in different parts of Delhi, with 25,000 square feet for NBCC, 50,000 for CPD, 10 lakh for DDA and 20,000 for DMRC.

"The planting of trees will be completed in the next three months during the monsoon season and the trees will include fruit trees, flowers and other green trees," he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Baijal is It is advisable to set up a group of experts and concerned citizens in order to interact on environmental issues and take other specific measures to Regarding these settlements,

NBCC redevelops Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, while the Central Department of Public Works or CPWD manages the other four settlements in Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammadpur.

An important demonstration broke out against the decision to touch the trees, with locals and activists launching their own "Chipko". Movement ", a forest conservation movement where people kissed trees to prevent them from being cut in Uttarakhand (then Uttar Pradesh) in the 1970s.

Congressman Rahul Gandhi also attacked the BJP and PAA in the nation's capital for the redevelopment project and called for fighting this "madness."

The NBCC said Wednesday that it has ordered all its contractors not to cut the trees in one of his redevelopment projects in South Delhi, in accordance with the commitment he gave to the Delhi High Court.

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