New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) The Delhi government’s efforts have led to a significant reduction in the number of trees to be impacted by the construction of the Executive Enclave, which will house the new Prime Minister’s Office, and the AIIMS redevelopment project, sources claimed on Tuesday.
The State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) have made efforts to reduce impact of tree felling, the sources said.
An engineer of the Central Public Works Department, however, said no tree felling is involved in the construction of the Executive Enclave.
“Approximately, 300 trees have been saved and retained at the site… The number of trees to be transplanted was reduced from 630 to around 490,” a source claimed.
Since their reconstitution last year, the two panels have been proactively taking measures to reduce the number of trees being affected by development projects in the national capital, the source said.
Similarly, interventions by the SEIAA and the SEAC ensured that the user agency for the AIIMS redevelopment project commits to preserving 1,064 trees at their current location itself while developing buildings around it.
There are 5,575 trees present at the site of the AIIMS redevelopment project. While 2,934 trees will be retained, 1,910 will be transplanted and 731 will be felled.
The SEIAA granted environmental clearance to the proposal for the construction of the Executive Enclave last week.
The Forest Department had on August 23 granted permission to the Central Public Works Department, the user agency, to transplant 487 of the 807 trees at the site under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994.
The SEAC, which first examined the proposal in a meeting on January 31, had raised concern over the CPWD’s plan to remove an “excessively high proportion” of trees from the site.
The CPWD later revised the proposal, decreasing the number of trees to be transplanted from 630 to 487 and increasing the number of trees to be retained at the site from 154 to 320.
According to the revised proposal for the Rs 1,381-crore project, the CPWD will maintain 1,022 trees at the site, so as to have a tree per 80 square metre of plot area in accordance with the Union environment ministry guidelines.
A total of five buildings with a built-up area of 90,000 square metres will be constructed at the site after demolishing the built-up area of 47,000 sqm.
The redevelopment of the Central Vista, the nation’s power corridor, envisages a new Parliament building, common central secretariat, revamping of the 3-km Rajpath from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, new office and residence of the prime minister, and a new vice president enclave. PTI GVS CK
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