Interlocking tiles around trees: Action sought against officials for flouting NGT orders

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, May 26

The Council of Engineers (CoE) has requested the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) to take strict action against officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC) and Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) for violating directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to remove concrete around tree bottom/base to ensure open space of one metre around the trees.

In a communication to the Secretary and Regional Officer (at Chandigarh) of the MOEF&CC, Kapil Dev, president, CoE, has submitted that while the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) officials were complying with the NGT directions made while disposing of petition (62/20121) of the CoE, the officials of MC and the LIT namely Rahul Gagneja, Parveen Singla, Tirath Bansal, all Superintendent Engineers of MC and Buta Ram, Superintendent Engineer of LIT, had failed to implement the orders.

Arora said even after explicit directions made by the NGT for remedial steps to save the trees from imminent death by covering their bases with concrete, paver blocks or interlocking tiles, thousands of trees in the administrative areas of MC and LIT, were still covered using concrete, paver blocks or interlocking tiles. He claimed that a copy of the orders (issued by NGT) was submitted to the competent authorities of MC and LIT on March 15, 2021 without evoking any response from these two institutions.

“No interlocking tiles, paver blocks or concrete fixed around one metre radius of trees have been removed as directed by the NGT. Further, the new interlocking tiles along Malhar Road, Sarabha Nagar, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Pakhowal Road and many more localities in the city were being fixed with impunity,” said the CoE president.

The petitioner said on one side, the Government of Punjab was propagating for increase in green cover in the state but on the other, the government institutions (MC and LIT) have no intention or vision for maintaining even the existing green cover in the city. Even the CM’s office had, through the Principal Secretary, Local Government Department, Punjab had instructed the MC and LIT officials to abide by the NGT directions for saving trees and environment but these instructions were also ignored, he added.

The petition averred, “Since, the act of all officials concerned is against the provisions of Environment Protection Act, 1986, you are requested to take cognisance of it and take lawful and strict action against the officials named in the complaint.