The Delhi High Court has asked the Delhi government to prepare a comparative report on the forest cover in Delhi and ridge areas of 1996 and the current status. The court passed this direction after it was told that encroachment has increased in the forest area, a factor for the rising pollution.
Senior advocate Kailash Vasudev, who has been appointed as amicus curie in the matter taken as suo moto by the court on air pollution, told the court that in 1996, data was furnished by the Delhi government in the Supreme Court on total forest year. "Ask the government to furnish recent data on forest land left in the Capital now."
The Delhi HC on Thursday directed the Delhi government to submit a report indicating total forest area left in the national Capital in last twenty years.
A division bench of justice BD Ahmed and justice Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the Delhi government to submit a report on total forest and ridge area in comparison to data furnished in the SC in this regard in 1996 and now. The court asked the government to file the report within six weeks along with the copy of reports given to the SC by the government in 1996.
During the hearing, the court expressed displeasure on "very fast" disappearing forest areas due to rampant encroachment.
"Increase the tree cover area. Show what you (Delhi government) have done since last year. It has to be tangible. "Show us with maps, photographs and the comparative study. We want action now," the bench said.
The bench also directed the city traffic police to come up with a plan and a timeline to utilise the unused funds given to it to improve the traffic management system in the Capital.
The court's order came after Delhi Traffic Police said it has utilised only RS 100.67 crore of the Rs 275.08 crore given to it under the 12th Plan in 2012 for modernisation of the traffic and communication network.
The court asked the Delhi Traffic police to respond on how it was going to utilise the remaining Rs175 crore and a timeline for the implementation of an intelligent traffic management system (ITMS), use of helicopters for traffic management and in emergencies and acquisition of modern equipment.
The court before taking up the matter of saturated landfill sites in the Capital suggested if the waste segregation method adopted in Japan, which has helped in handling the garbage problem, could be replicated here.
The court posted the matter for May 19 on a PIL initiated by it on the issue of increasing air pollution in national Capital.
