Ensure no trees felled in Central Ridge; garbage cleared immediately: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court recently ordered the Delhi Forest department to ensure that no felling of trees or removal of shrubs and other bushes take place in the Central Ridge of the national capital without the permission of the court [Anjali College of Pharmacy and Science through its founder-cum-chairman Devendra Gupta v Dr Montu M Patel President Pharmacy Council of India & Anr]..In an order passed on May 6, Justice Mini Pushkarna said that the Court was perturbed by photographs of burning in the Central Ridge area due to which not only trees but also shrubs have been destroyed, leaving only vacant land.The Court directed the authorities to submit an explanation as to how felling of trees and dumping of garbage and waste has been allowed in the ridge forests.“Further, the Forest Department and other local authorities are directed to ensure that no dumping of garbage or any other waste material is carried out in the Central Ridge. The concerned authorities are directed to forthwith take action and remove all the garbage and waste material from the Central Ridge. It is further directed that no further felling of trees or removal of shrubs and other bushes shall take place in the Central Ridge, without the permission of the Court,” the Court ordered..The Court took note of the photographs that showed large-scale dumping of garbage in the ridge and observed that the area cannot be destroyed in this manner by felling trees and removing shrubs when the city is already grappling with dangerously high pollution levels.“Further, it is also appalling to note that the Central Ridge, which is our green heritage, is being used as a dumping ground of garbage and other waste materials,” the Court said.It then ordered the Deputy Conservator of Forests (West Division) to join the proceedings virtually on the next date of hearing on May 24..Justice Pushkarna passed the order while dealing with a contempt case filed by Anjali College of Pharmacy and Science.The Court was told that the forest department had assured the Court in August 2023 that there will be adequate monitoring and appropriate deployment of staff to ensure that there is no dumping of material in the Central Ridge and that there will be no further felling of trees, without intimation to the Court.However, the report submitted by the amicus curiae stated that despite this undertaking, large-scale felling of trees and clearing of forest land was taking place in the Central Ridge.The report further said that apart from the trees, the shrubs and other flora of the forest are also being cleared up..Supreme Court orders halt on tree felling in forest ridge near Delhi University.Advocates Gautam Narayan, Prabhsahay Kaur and Aditya N Prasad acted as amici curiae in the matter.The Delhi government was represented through its Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) Sameer Vashisht.Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Kirtiman Singh along with advocates Waize Ali Noor, Varun Rajawat, Kartik Baijal, Vidhi Jain and Shreya V Mehra represented the Union of India. .[Read Order]