NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, on Monday, proposed to appoint an agency which could suggest steps towards enhancing the national capital’s depleting green cover.
A two-judge bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih asked senior advocate ADN Rao, who is the amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the matter, to suggest names by December 18, the next date of hearing.
“No satisfactory progress has been made in terms of what this court expected. We therefore propose to appoint an agency to suggest measures for enhancing (the) green cover of (the) national capital territory of Delhi. We permit the amicus to suggest names of the agencies which will be able to take up this task,” ordered the bench.
The SC passed the proposal after hearing a contempt plea filed by MC Mehta, alleging that hundreds of trees were cut by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) without the court’s permission, on instructions of the lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The top court was apprised on Monday that authorities of the Delhi government had convened two meetings since its June 26 order, though the report was not on record.
Earlier in one of its hearings, the apex court had directed the Delhi government and the civic agencies to convene a meeting and discuss comprehensive measures to enhance the city’s green cover while observing that people were feeling the heat due to the loss of green cover.
A concerned apex court, after getting to know that green cover was getting lesser, had issued notices to the Delhi government, forest and environment departments, tree authority, MCD and DDA. “The secretary of the forest department will convene a meeting of all these officers in the presence of the expert committee appointed for discussing the comprehensive measures for enhancing the green cover of national capital Delhi,” it said then.
What’s the matter?
The SC passed the proposal after hearing a contempt plea filed by MC Mehta, alleging that hundreds of trees were cut by the DDA without the court’s permission, on instructions of the L-G. The top court was apprised on Monday that Delhi govt authorities had convened two meetings since its June 26 order, though the report was not on record.