New Delhi:
As many as 43% of the trees have been planted for the Narendra Modi government’s marquee $The Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista project has perished, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
The center said that 3,609 trees were planted, and 1,545 of them died after planting.
Other than the transplants, the Union government said a total of 24,450 trees have been planted as compensatory plantations. “24,450 trees have been planted in NTPC ECO Park, Badarpur and 1,730 trees in Gittorni in compensatory plantations,” Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tukan Sahoo, in response to a question by TMC MP Mohua Moitra, said.
The Center also reported that an amount of $Rs 5.29 lakh crore has been spent on these activities during the last three financial years.
The largest number of tree plantings for the Central Vista Project originated from CCS (Combined Central Secretariat Buildings, later renamed Kartavya Bhawans) Sites 1, 2 and 3, accounting for 1,734 trees, while CCS Sites 6 and 7 saw 458 trees planted. The New Parliament Building site witnessed the planting of 402 trees while the VP Enclave site witnessed the planting of 390 trees.
NTPC ECO Park in Badarpur was the site that received the highest number of trees planted. Other sites include Ghata Mosque and Krishna Menon Marg which received 342 trees from the Executive District (Prime Minister’s Office or Seva Tirth).
While the Central Vista project is now in its final phase, the project has faced significant delays due to the pandemic as well as legal uncertainty due to disputes over environmental and land use permits that ultimately went to the Supreme Court.
In December 2020, the Supreme Court, after noting that the Center had already begun construction and shifting of trees in the area despite the legal challenge to the environmental clearance, ordered the government to halt all construction and ancillary activities at Central Vista until the court’s final ruling. However, the project got a green signal from the Supreme Court in January 2021.
