Tree-felling drive halted after residents protest

A south Delhi stretch may not be robbed of its greenery as of now after city Environment Minister Imran Hussain directed officials to stop felling of trees as part of a road-widening project.
Around 30 trees, with many being decades-old, lined along Aurobindo Marg were to be cut to make way for the project stretching between AIIMS and Saket, which left activists and local residents upset.
Hussain ordered the officials of Forest Department to halt the tree-felling drive following a meeting with a delegation led by green activist Padmavati Dwivedi, an aide of the minister said.
Meanwhile, the minister also reviewed the plantation target for the current year. It has been pegged at around 11.6 lakh saplings and 9.22 lakh shrubs.

"Hussain directed the Northern Railways to identify the land parcel available on both the sides of railway tracks for carrying out tree plantation so that revised target could be fixed," an official statement said.