Won't take part in green drive, DDA tells Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday expressed his displeasure to Lt. Governor Anil Baijal after the DDA expressed its unwillingness to take part in the Delhi government's mega tree plantation drive.

In a letter to Baijal, Kejriwal said the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) senior officials failed to show up at two meetings convened by him regarding a mammoth drive to plant five lakh trees and shrubs.

On August 18, Kejriwal had called a meeting of all the greening agencies. It was decided that the plantation drive would be carried out on September 8. The DDA did not attend the meeting.

"When I called you (Baijal) and informed you, you were kind enough to say that you would ensure participation of the DDA Vice Chairman in the next meeting," Kejriwal said.

"It pains me to inform that today (on Tuesday), a junior level officer came to the meeting and said that the DDA has already planted three lakh trees and will not participate in this tree plantation drive," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that in the second review meeting of preparations of the upcoming drive with all the greening agencies on Tuesday, "the DDA was the only agency which was short of answers".

"DDA was trailing by 70 per cent of its greening target for the current year and still the DDA official refused to participate in the tree plantation drive," Kejriwal said in his letter.

The DDA reports to the central government, which has been locked in a power struggle with the AAP government in Delhi.

--IANS

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