New Delhi, May 13 (PTI) Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said the city government will set up a nine-member committee to suggest alternatives to overcome shortage of land for tree plantation in the national capital.
The minister made the announcement while rejecting a request by the Delhi Development Authority to revise the guidelines for the number of trees to be planted under the compensatory plantation scheme from 10 saplings to two for every tree that is cut.
“The DDA wrote to the Delhi forest department saying they do not have land for compensatory plantation. They have requested us to make changes in the guidelines. We are rejecting the request considering the status of the environment in Delhi,” he said.
Instead, the government will ask the DDA to inform how much land is available for plantation in the capital. The government has also decided to set up a nine-member “Green Cover Development Committee” to suggest alternatives to overcome shortage of land for tree plantation, Rai said.
The panel will have members from the public works department, DDA, forest department, municipal corporations, School of Planning and Architecture, Central Public Works Department, Delhi Urban Arts Commission and the IARI-PUSA.
It will look at options like space available on the roofs of government buildings, vertical greening etc.
Rai also said that the government will ask Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute to conduct a third-party audit of tree transplantation in Delhi. PTI GVS IJT
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