Congress plants 40 saplings at site where trees were cut for BJP office road in Karnal

A week after the Supreme Court pulled up the Haryana Government and its urban development body for uprooting 40 fully-grown trees to create an access road to the BJP’s office in Karnal, Congress workers on Monday planted around 40 saplings at the site near the BJP office where the fully grown trees were uprooted.

Congress workers accused the BJP and local authorities of “violating environmental norms” to create a direct access road from the national highway to the party’s office.

Congress leaders claimed that nearly 40 trees in the designated green belt were cut to open the road, a matter that recently drew strong remarks from the Supreme Court. “Green belt destroyed to benefit one party,” said Parag Gaba, Congress district urban president. He criticised the BJP, alleging misuse of power. “The green belt has been destroyed only to benefit the BJP. Fully-grown trees were cut to build a straight road from the highway to their office. This is a clear violation of rules,” Gaba said.

He maintained that planting 40 saplings was the Congress’s way of “restoring what the administration failed to protect.”

Congress district women rural president Dr Navjot Kaur Kashyap said that the action exposed the BJP’s dual standards. “On the one hand, BJP leaders take pledges to plant trees, on the other, they cut down dozens of them for their own convenience. How can they preach environmental protection while destroying the green belt?” Kashyap asked.

Rajesh Vaid, president of the district rural Congress, alleged that the administration acted under political pressure. “The Supreme Court has already taken cognisance of this issue and sought a reply from the government. It shows that something is seriously wrong. Officials and the government worked hand in glove to clear the trees and this must be investigated,” Vaid said.

Last week, the Supreme Court pulled up the Haryana Government and its urban development body for uprooting 40 fully-grown trees to create the access road to the BJP office. The petition, filed by a 1971 war veteran, challenges the allocation of the plot and the cutting of trees in a residential green belt without proper permissions.