UPA govt conceived south Delhi colonies redevelopment plan: AAP

The AAP today accused the Congress-led UPA government of conceiving the controversial south Delhi colonies redevelopment project in 2006, caught in an eye of storm over proposed felling of nearly 17,000 trees.

Modi government has only "repackaged" the project, it originally belongs to the Congress-led UPA government, alleged AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj today.

AAP hurled the allegations hours after a tweet by the Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP and the AAP today over proposed felling of trees in the national capital for the project.

In Delhi, the BJP with AAP's approval has hacked down thousands of trees in the past 4 years for development, Gandhi had tweeted.

Following the tweet, Bhardwaj also accused erstwhile Urban Development Minister Ajay Maken of "betraying" Gandhi by not apprising him of the "origin" of the project, resulting in his tweet on the controversial issue.

Showing a purported environmental assessment report on redevelopment of Netaji Nagar, he said it was "ovelooked" by the Urban Development ministry, headed by Ajay Maken in 2006.

"Ajay Maken has betrayed his party president Rahul Gandhi by keeping mum over the issue. This information that the report of NBCC was overlooked by Ajay Maken's ministry in 2006 was hidden from Rahul Gandhi, otherwise he would not have tweeted today," said Bhardwaj.

The redevelopment project for seven south Delhi colonies has triggered widespread protest by locals who have launched a "Chipko" movement on the lines of one conceived by Sunderlal Bahuguna in 1973 for today's Uttrakhand, to save trees from saws to make way for building residential and commercial complexes.

The BJP, meanwhile, alleged that the AAP government has "failed" to carry out the compensatory plantation of 39,550 trees at Narouji Nagar and Netaji Nagar colonies that are part of the redevelopment project,