The Aam Aadmi Party has challenged the BJP to show the documents of permission for felling 1100 trees in the ridge area in Satbari. Giving this challenge, AAP’s chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said that if the BJP has the documents of permission to fell trees in the ridge area, then it should present it in the Supreme Court. Keeping in mind environmental protection, the Kejriwal government has planted more than 2 crore saplings in Delhi in the last 4 years. At the same time, the BJP’s LG got thousands of trees cut in the ridge area without taking permission from the Supreme Court. Ever since this matter came to light, the Supreme Court and the Delhi government have been continuously seeking answers from the LG and officials working at behest of the BJP, but everyone is silent.
“Now, the BJP is showing a false document to do politics in this and is saying that these trees were felled on the orders of CM Kejriwal, whereas this is impossible. Only the Supreme Court can give permission to cut down trees in the ridge area. If the BJP has any document, then it should show the permission papers to the Supreme Court,” she added.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said in a press conference at the party headquarters on Saturday that climate change and environment protection have never become an election issue in our country. Perhaps this is the reason why today India is at the last position in the list of 180 countries in the Environment Performance Index.
She further stated, “On one hand, the Environment Minister of the Aam Aadmi Party government, Gopal Rai, has planted 2 crore trees in 4 years, on the other hand, the LG considers it his duty to get 4 photographs taken while planting a tree in a year. More than this, on February 3, he ordered the felling of thousands of trees from the eco-sensitive area of Delhi. Whereas not even a single tree can be felled from these eco-sensitive zones of Delhi without the permission of the Supreme Court.”
Priyanka Kakkar said that the effect of the BJP’s anti-nature policies is now visible. Prime Minister Modi says that there is no such thing as climate change. His same thinking is also visible in the BJP’s policies. They put coconut trees in the category of grass in Goa, so that they can be felled easily, the fields can be cleared, and the timber business of the BJP leaders can run. It is a matter of thought that if coconut trees have been put in the category of grass, then money must have reached the top for this. They felled all the forests from Aravalli of Gurugram, Aarey of Mumbai and Hasdeo of Chhattisgarh, so that their capitalist friends can get land at a very cheap price. They do not care about the effect it will have on the environment.
She asserted that under its failed policies, the BJP removed the boards that give environmental clearance to big projects in the country, so that there is no one to stop them. National Green Tribunal (NGT), which works as a watchdog for the environment, its chairman can only be a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of the High Court, they used to reprimand the BJP repeatedly for its environmental policies. But the BJP brought a money bill and amended that now the selection of the chairman of NGT will be done by a four-member committee, all of whose members will be the BJP members.
“The BJP people are not concerned; they have nothing to do with our environment. The effect of these flop policies of BJP is visible in many places. On Environment Performance Index, today India comes last at 180th position. Today, India alone has 18 cities among the 20 most polluted cities in the world. Apart from this, accidents like Silicon Valley Tunnel have all happened due to violation of rules made for the protection of the environment,” she said.
Priyanka Kakkar said that under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Government’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai has taken Delhi’s green cover to historic heights. In the last 4 years, 2 crore saplings have been planted, out of which 82 lakh saplings were planted last year. This year our target is to plant 64 lakh saplings, which will be achieved. Some areas of Delhi fall in eco-sensitive zones, for which there are special laws and a large number of natural resources are available here.
“For felling trees from such areas, one has to first present his case before the Ridge Management Board, in which it needs to be told why it is necessary to cut down these trees. After this, this board sends its recommendations to a committee and finally this matter goes to the Supreme Court. Only the Supreme Court can give permission to cut down trees in eco-sensitive zones,” Priyanka Kakkar stated.
She said that Satbari Eco-sensitive Zone of Delhi also falls in this category, where 1100 trees were felled on the orders of Delhi LG without the permission of the Supreme Court. But the cunningness of the BJP people did not end here.
“After felling the trees, they went to the Supreme Court to get permission for this, where the court came to know that these trees had already been felled. Now the Supreme Court and the Delhi government are demanding answers from the Delhi LG and the officials working at the behest of the BJP, but now they are silent, they are not responding. The BJP has found an opportunity to do politics in this too and since Friday has been waving some documents saying that these trees were felled on the orders of Arvind Kejriwal. This is impossible, because only the Supreme Court can give permission for felling of trees from the Ridge area. If the BJP has such documents, then stop this drama and put these papers before the Supreme Court,” she concluded.
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