Click to play videoNew Delhi: The electoral demands of Delhites today have gone beyond bijli, sadak and paani (electricity, roads and water). Many want clean air, greener lanes and a pollution free city. But what is the government's environment report card and how will the elections influence the green agenda? Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit calls the greening of Delhi one of her major achievements, but unfortunately a staggering number of trees have been cut in the Capital over the last 10 years to give way to development projects. As Delhi gears up for elections, CNN-IBN finds out if politicians have the means to repair this green carnage. Read on..
Travelling in Delhi is more convenient now, with widened roads, flyovers and the Metro. But this infrastructure has come at a heavy price. While the Delhi Metro has already axed 35,000 trees, another 2,500 are expected to be lopped for the BRT. And the toal damage after Commonwealth Games are held is an estimated 2 lakh trees.
Sudhir Oswal has walked Delhi roads for 50 years, but his favourite trees are mostly all gone and in place are ominous fences.
"I feel really sad and I feel that if development is done with a little planning, a lot of trees can be saved from the axe," says he.
The Delhi government claims that it's striving to make up for the tree loss.
"We have already made about 10 forests and we are making another 16 to 17 forests all over the Delhi," says Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit.
But this, environmentalists point out this is easier said than done. A Google Earth map shows that 10 out of 11 plantation sites are not in the city but rather on its outskirts.
WHO IS HE????? Ravi Agarwal says, "You can't take the greenery out of people's lives and then say we have got statistics that greenery is increasing and we're planting on the periphery of the city."
The targets to green the city too are well below average. Out of 2.8 lakh saplings which were to be planted for the trees felled for the Metro, 50,000 are still left to be planted. This because there's no land available to plant the trees on.
It's on record that Sheila Dixit has said that an increase in the tree cover has been one of her achievements, but the fact is its only in the past five to seven years - after the infrastructure projects came in - that voters have become concerned about the city's greenery.
So, what kind of change would the BJP bring if is elected to power?
BJP's chief ministerial candidate for the Capital, V K Malhotra says, "We want to beautify the ridge, make it greener and check the unauthorised construction on the ridge. We want Delhi to be a clean, green city and that is our main agenda."
If "clean and green Delhi" is a tag the city wants to keep, it's politicians clearly need to do more.
(With inputs from Anu Jogesh in New Delhi)
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