The Capitals roadside trees can now breathe more freely. Government agencies will have to maintain a distance of six feet around the trees while concretising pavements. On Wednesday,a Delhi High Court Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar demanded written undertakings to this effect from the chiefs of every government agency concerned by October 30. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD),the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) are the three prominent agencies which have to instruct contractors to implement the order. We shall pass the formal order on Friday after the agencies file their written undertakings, the Bench observed. The court also instructed the agencies to start getting busy to de-tile any pavement clogging the airway of trees. The undertakings shall be from each of your heads assuring to carry our orders forward and complete the work within a certain period, the court told the counsel for the state bodies. The MCD counsel,O P Saxena,said the de-tiling could be completed within six months. The order came following a petition that pointed out that concretisation of pavements have left many a malnourished tree by the roadside,ready to fall at the slightest storm,causing havoc and traffic snarls. The petition referred to the August 21 storm,during which the Capital came to standstill after many trees fell on the roads. Concrete pavements are preventing adequate supply of water,weakening the roots of trees, argued Sugreev Dubey,advocate for petitioner S C Jain. Steps have to be taken to remove the concrete around the roots.
