NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has de-concretised over 5,000 trees in south Delhi over the past few months. The trees, heavily concretised, have been restored to their original glory, said officials.
“A total of 5,908 trees have been de-concretised in the south and central zones of the civic body. The roots of these trees will now be able to breathe free. Efforts are being taken to maintain the green cover of the areas under the corporation’s jurisdiction, which mainly include those in residential colonies, markets and streets,” said a senior civic official.
Of the total 5,908 trees, 4,842 are in the south zone while 1,066 in the central zone. In the south zone, 3,909 trees were de-concretised from Vasant Vihar, 850 from Vasant Kunj and 83 from Greater Kailash-II. In central zone, 435 from areas including Maharani Bagh, Friends Colony West, New Friends Colony, Ishwar Nagar, Sukhdev Vihar and Easy of Kailash, 250 from Kalkaji Extension pockets, 115 from Defence Colony, 65 from Anand Lok, 65 from Greater Kailash, 42 from Kalindi Colony, 35 from Shooting Range road, 25 from Bhogal, 12 from MIG flats road, 10 from Tughlaqabad Extension, four each from Sarita Vihar and NSDE-II, three from Badarpur and one from Jaitpur.
A special drive was undertaken to restore these trees after the Delhi High Court directed the civic body to take corrective measures to free these trees after a PIL was filed by a group of residents and environment activists against the concretisation of trees.
“The exercise that spanned over for several months restored trees, most of which were fully-grown. The trees had weakened over time because of being heavily concretised with cement and tiles while leaving no unpaved space for the soil around it ,” the official said.
In 2020, Vasant Vihar residents carried out a census of trees in their neighborhood, which showed that of total 4,993 trees on its streets, 3,859 trees were heavily concretised. As per National Green Tribunal (NGT) 2013 order, concretisation of tree bases (area within one metre radius of the trunk of trees) is “prohibited” and amounts to violation of green laws.
The NGT had directed all public authorities including MCD, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Public Works Department (PWD) and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), among others to ensure that any concrete, if found around tree trunk, be removed immediately and due precaution is taken while taking up construction activities surrounding trees.
In most cases, it has been found that government agencies undertaking construction work on roads end up filling concrete around trees. Also, residents too are responsible in many cases where they just encroach upon public space and pave the entire area with cement outside their houses including those around trees.