3 trees are cut every hour in Delhi, do you know how many trees are sacrificed in violation of the ban?

The list of services that trees provide to the earth is long. Trees act as natural conditioners and help keep cities cool. Absorbs carbon left behind by humans and other animals. Reduces pollution, provides shelter to many birds. But knowing this much, we continue to cut mercilessly. The status of remote areas remains the same. This is the reality in the national capital Delhi as well. Recently, when the issue of felling of trees in the ridge area in Delhi came to the Supreme Court, the court strongly condemned the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The court said that this is a shameful act and such acts cannot be taken lightly. The Supreme Court has not taken such a strict stand and there is a reason behind it. In fact, the Supreme Court and the High Court have already banned the cutting of trees in Delhi. In such a situation, such huge trees have been felled without the permission of the court. A contempt of court petition was filed in the court. The court sought an explanation from the DTA vice president as to why this was done. A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oga and Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan expressed a strong view that even after the Supreme Court's order, cutting of trees would be considered interference with court proceedings. The court has proposed an inquiry into the felling of trees. Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued a contempt notice to the DTA vice-president for taking a tough stand on the issue of cutting trees without the court's permission. The ridge area is known as Delhi's lung, and a part of the Aravalli range also falls here. Due to the large amount of forest cover in this area, it is also known as the lungs of Delhi. The Delhi Ridge protects Delhi from the hot winds from Rajasthan and its forests provide oxygen to the city. In the last few years, an even greater number of trees have been sacrificed in Delhi. According to a report by the Delhi Forest Department, in the name of development, in the last 3 years, 77,000 trees, or an average of three trees every hour, have been cut down for development projects. It was also revealed that even one-third of the newly planted saplings did not become trees. Since 1998, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has cut down 44,186 trees and planted 7,923 trees, according to government data. During this period, DMRC allowed felling of 57,775 trees, although it managed to preserve 12,580 trees by changing the layout and adopting other methods. Warrior Moms reported in 2022 that 60,000 trees were cut between 2015-2021. Warrior Moms is a group of mothers fighting for their children's right to breathe clean air. The report is titled Permitting Tree Felling in Delhi (2021-2015) under Section 29 of the Delhi Tree Protection Act, 1994. The report comes at a time when Delhi is grappling with pollution and many people are suffering from respiratory problems. According to the report, the Delhi Forest Department gave permission to cut 60,443 trees between 2015 and 2021, thereby exempting various parts of the NCR region from the provisions of the Delhi Tree Preservation Act, 1994 (TPDA). The Act provides for the protection of trees and provides for punishment for violators. Since 1,030 trees were felled in 2015, 3,261 trees in 2016 and 7,231 trees in 2017, this number has been steadily increasing. Permission to cut 3,973 trees in 2018 and 3,504 trees in 2020 has been given. The Delhi High Court has repeatedly banned the cutting of trees in June 2022. The court considered the tree as a living organism. In its order, the court had said that only the branches of trees with a circumference of 15.7 cm can be cut without the permission of the concerned authority. Besides, final inspection of trees before cutting or pruning branches is also mandatory. In its judgment, the court held that felling of trees is not permissible under the Tree Protection Act, 1994. The decision was taken on the petition of professor and doctor Sanjiv Bhagai. Earlier, in 2018, the National Green Tribunal i.e. NGT had issued an order prohibiting unnecessary felling and pruning of trees. In another judgment in May 2022, the Delhi High Court heard a contempt case related to the preservation of trees and imposed a ban on felling of trees. Even in September 2023, the Delhi High Court directed the continuation of the ban on felling of trees during construction of houses. The Delhi government will not grant permission to anyone to cut trees, the High Court has said in its judgment. According to the information on the website of Delhi Municipal Council, 20 cm girth trees are planted by NTMC. How green is Delhi? MCD i.e. Municipal Corporation of Delhi conducted the first tree survey to find out how green Delhi is. About 1 lakh 56 thousand 067 trees were found in 12 mandals. In December 2023, Mayor Shelley Oberoi had said that the MCT census would be completed in 15 days, but according to the latest data, the work is still ongoing and only 27 percent of the areas have been covered. A tree survey is conducted to know the number of trees, their age and health. Accordingly, the general public and concerned authorities can inform what kind of concrete measures should be taken for their maintenance. With increasing urbanization worldwide, the United Nations estimates that by 2030, more than half of the world's population will live in cities. In such a scenario, rising temperatures and climate change will become a major threat to them.