The Aam Aadmi Party has reacted strongly to the involvement of LG VK Saxena in the case of illegal cutting of 1100 trees in the Ridge area of Chhatarpur in Delhi. The AAP says that to push Delhi into air pollution and heat wave, the BJP’s LG ordered the felling of 1100 trees without permission. Air pollution and heat wave are reduced due to more greenery, but by felling trees, the BJP and LG are treating Delhiites like enemies. Senior leader Dilip Pandey said that on one hand, the Kejriwal government is trying to make Delhi pollution free by increasing green cover and on the other hand, the BJP and LG are getting trees felled illegally. After a few months, the BJP will be seen shedding crocodile tears for Delhi’s environment, but when it will be asked what contribution did it make in the effort to clean Delhi’s environment by cutting 1100 trees? Then the BJP goes silent.
Dilip Pandey said that the case of felling of trees in Delhi has been in the news for the last several weeks, months. The environment department under the Delhi government is constantly trying year after year to increase the green cover of Delhi by any means, in which it is also getting significant success. Delhi’s green cover is continuously expanding. But we also know that we will have to make more such dedicated efforts if we want that Delhi, the national capital region, to become such a state in the coming days where people feel proud to breathe in the air. More work needs to be done to bring down the pollution level in Delhi. We are constantly working for this.
He added that the BJP and LG alliance, on the other hand, together felled around 1100 fully mature trees from Chhatarpur Ridge area of Delhi illegally and now this matter is in the Supreme Court. As soon as the matter reaches the Supreme Court, the effort to shift the blame begins. Officials start whitewashing, blame-game and anti-environment politics begins. But the Supreme Court’s keen eye remained on this entire matter and the result was that the Supreme Court had to say what all the people of Delhi were thinking in their minds.
“The comments that the Supreme Court has made about LG in dozens of newspapers published today, I feel that a person sitting on a constitutional post should at least keep in mind that it is his responsibility to respect the chair on which he is sitting. The Supreme Court clearly said that you can do anything, but do not consider yourself a court. This is a very serious comment. I don’t think that the Supreme Court has ever given such harsh comments to a person who has been in the Lieutenant Governor’s chair in the last several years. The court said that you should not try to cover up this matter. No cover-up done by you will be enough to defend the felling of 1100 trees,” he stated.
The Chief Whip of Delhi stated that still they beat around the bush, a lot of whitewashing was still done in this matter, an attempt was made to put the blame on departments and ministries. We are talking about 1100 trees. This is the Ridge area, there is already a law for the Ridge area that no matter which government it is, it cannot allow the process of cutting even a single tree, it is not possible. Then why was this done? On whose orders was it done? And if it was done, was it done by calculating personal profit or loss? These are all the questions that every person of Delhi is asking the BJP and the Lieutenant Governor. After a few months, when the BJP spokespersons will sit on TV channels and shed crocodile tears for the environment of Delhi and they will be asked how they helped the Delhi government in reducing pollution in Delhi by cutting 1100 trees, then everyone will be silent.
“It is very sad, very unfortunate that these trees were cut illegally and the names of many officers are in the Supreme Court. The names of many officers are in the Supreme Court and they are also being questioned. They are saying in a hushed voice that there is pressure on us. What kind of pressure is this that is more important than the health of the people of Delhi? Is this political pressure that is polluting the environment here by ignoring the green cover of Delhi? What kind of political pressure is this that the LG, on whose shoulders lies the responsibility of the interests of the people of Delhi, is playing with their health? What happened is illegal and wrong. Today the people of Delhi are demanding answers to these questions. We hope that BJP and LG will definitely answer these questions. However, the Aam Aadmi Party government is making every effort to improve the environment of Delhi. Despite all the conspiracies of BJP, we will continue to make these efforts,” he asserted.
At the same time, senior AAP leader and MLA Sanjeev Jha said that many senior officials are telling in a hushed voice that we tried to convince the LG several times, but despite this LG took this decision. We thank the Supreme Court that they noticed it. Sanjeev Jha said that the kind of comment the Supreme Court has made on the LG, we have never heard such a rebuke for a person holding a constitutional post before. However, LG has a habit of interfering in the jurisdiction of others.
“He has been interfering in the powers of the Delhi government earlier also and is now interfering in the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. This is the reason why the court has clearly told him not to consider himself a court. The court said that the affidavit shows that the LG has agreed to the felling of trees, but the officials are trying to hide it. It is surprising that the BJP is completely silent on this issue. The LG has now become a threat to Delhi. If the BJP central government wants to see a better standard of living for Delhi and Delhiites, then it should take LG’s resignation and save the people of Delhi from him,” he stated.
At the same time, AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar said that the LG has always had the habit of interfering in others’ work. He does not handle his responsibilities. The LG, instead of handling Delhi Police and DDA under him, sometimes interferes in the work of Delhi Jal Board and sometimes in the work of some other department. He did the same thing in the Ridge area as well. The LG knew very well that he cannot give permission to cut trees from the Ridge area, but in the pride of his powers, he got those trees cut by bypassing the Supreme Court.
“The officers who were afraid that if they did not obey LG’s orders, they would be transferred to far-flung areas like Andaman and Nicobar, obeyed all his orders and damaged the green cover of Delhi. It is yet to be revealed for whose benefit this has been done, but the people of Delhi are suffering because of this. Rules and laws have been set aside. We thank the Supreme Court for taking cognizance of this matter. The court has sought an affidavit from the DDA as to on whose orders the trees were cut. We hope that strict action will be taken against the person who gave this order going against the interest of the people of Delhi,” he concluded.
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