The Hindu : Barakhamba Road to be re-greened

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003

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Barakhamba Road to be re-greened

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JUNE 17. Contending that the cutting of trees on Barakhamba Road was almost unavoidable, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director, E. Sreedharan, today said the DMRC was trying to minimise the ecological degradation of the region through the compensatory afforestation scheme -- planting 20 sapling for every tree chopped.

At a media briefing here, Mr. Sreedharan said as many as 110 trees are being cut for the construction of Barakhamba Road Metro Station for which a huge pit -- 245 metre in length and 32 metre in width -- would be dug. So, many trees were being chopped in this area because DMRC was adopting `cut and cover' method for construction of this underground station.

``We cannot adopt the tunneling method here as is being done in the Walled City because the soil is soft and not rocky,'' he said. At the same time, he assured that when ready, the Barakhamba Road station and its adjoining areas would look more greener and beautiful than what how it is now. No doubt, DMRC cannot bring back these trees as it would take 30-40 years to regrow them but the loss would be made up.

The DMRC has decided to plant flower beds, exotic plants and bushes above the station and has engaged a consultant for the purpose. "We will be doing the regreening of the entire area,'' he asserted.

Mr. Sreedharan said of 110 trees being removed, as many as 25 of them were being transplanted in open space of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) near Bhikaji Cama Place in South Delhi. "So far, a large number of trees have been transplanted as part of the DMRC project and its success ratio has been more than 90 per cent,'' he observed.

For the rest 85 trees, he said DMRC would be following the compensatory afforestation scheme which is being executed in association with Forest Department of the Delhi Government. "We are planting 20 saplings for every tree cut. So far we have planted more than 26,000 saplings under this scheme,'' Mr. Sreedharan said. The DMRC has spent more than a crore on this scheme.

Acknowledging that some concerned residents of the Capital had raised apprehension on cutting of so many trees, Mr. Sreedharan said: "The flare is understandable. But there is no other way out. We are trying to compensate. Citizens should not get a feeling that DMRC is not doing anything. We can assure that Barakhamba Road would be a much greener and better place than what it is today,'' he said. The 23-km metro stretch between Barakhamba Road in the heart of the city and Dwarka in South West Delhi having 22 stations is expected to be completed by September 2005 at an estimated cost of Rs. 3,000 crores.

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