HC asks govt to reply on cutting of 565 Khejri trees

Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court has sought a reply from the chief secretary, the director of environment and climate change, the additional district magistrate-1 of Jaipur, the sub-division officer (SDO) and tehsildar of Sambhar Lake, and a developer firm for starting a process to cut 617 trees, including 565 Khejri trees, to build a multi-cargo terminal under the railway’s Gati Shakti scheme at Hirnoda in Sambhar-Phulera tehsil on outskirts of Jaipur.
A division bench of CJ MM Srivastava and Justice Ashutosh Kumar gave this order on Wednesday after a preliminary hearing of a PIL filed by Meridian Foundation Trust.
The petitioner, a registered public trust, said there are a total of 617 green trees on the land where the terminal will be built, including 565 of Khejri, the state tree of Rajasthan. “The petitioner requested that the NOC given for cutting trees and the auction order issued for cutting trees be cancelled” said Bharat Vyas, additional advocate general (AAG). tnn