The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena has told the Supreme Court that he was not “made aware” of the need for taking the Supreme Court’s permission to fell trees on the road proposed in Delhi’s Ridge area for widening the approach to the under-construction Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS) during his visit to the site on February 3.
Last week, the Supreme Court had sought an affidavit from Saxena on the controversy about the alleged illegal felling of trees, reported The Indian Express.
In the affidavit filed before court on Tuesday (October 22), L-G Saxena said his visit at the CAPFIMS project site was scheduled to take stock of the progress of the project, keeping in mind its significance and necessity as well as the resources including the finances which have already been invested in it.
“No one present at the said site on the date of the visit, brought to the notice of the Deponent, the legal requirement of obtaining permission from this Hon’ble Court for felling of trees,” said Saxena in his affidavit.
The matter pertains to the felling of 1,100 trees, which the apex court believes was done at the behest of LG and that officials are trying to “protect higher-ups“. The trees were cut in violation of norms in the Chhatarpur area of Delhi to widen the road leading to the South Asian University and Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS). The trees were cut after LG’s visit.
Saxena’s affidavit also named the officials who it said had given instructions to fell the trees and said they “have been found to have instructed/allowed the tree cutting to take place on their own accord.”