Fearing any adverse order on the dalit memorial park at Noida, near the national capital, the Mayawati government on Friday readily agreed to the Supreme Court proposal to reduce its covering area to 35 per cent and develop the remaining 65 per cent as forest by a massive re-plantation to compensate axing of nearly 6,000 trees.
But there was a bad news for the Mayawati government’s another ambitious plan to build express highway from Delhi to Agra up to Taj Mahal along Yamuna as the apex court took serious note of the cutting of nearly 4,000 trees even before starting of construction. In the dalit park case, a forest bench, headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia asked the UP government to restrict the unfinished construction to 35 per cent of the 48-hectare area, plant trees in the remaining 65 per cent and demolish the excessive built up area.
By the proposal, the CJI’s bench modified its earlier suggestion to reduce construction to 40 per cent area. The modified proposal came after examining the records as the court found that about two hectare area was of “water bodies”, which the government was asked to restore as buffer between the park and the nearby bird sanctuary.
Though the top court is yet to pass the formal order, UP government counsel K.K. Venugopal readily accepted it and said, “we will do it, I got the point.” The top court has stayed the construction in the park.
Mr Venugopal said nearly 70 per cent work in the park was completed and the government would demolish the excessive area, which mainly comprise of concrete pavements, and confine the construction to 36 per cent area to complete it. The forest bench, meanwhile, issued notice to the Centre on the Central Empowerment Committee on forests’ for setting up a permanent committee of experts to clear project in urban “green areas”.