Contempt plea in HC against NBCC for tree cutting
New Delhi, June 27: A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday seeking contempt action against the National Buildings Construction Corp (NBCC), tasked with redeveloping six south Delhi colonies, for allegedly violating its undertaking to the court not to cut trees till July 4 for residential projects here.
The contempt petition was mentioned before a bench of Justice Vinod Goel and Justice Rekha Palli which posted the plea, filed by environmentalist Vimlendu Jha, for hearing on July 4 along with the main petition.
While hearing the main plea, which had sought setting aside of the terms of reference and environmental clearance granted to the project by the Environment Ministry, the bench on June 25 asked the NBCC not to axe till July 4 the 16,500 trees set to be cut for the residential project.
In the contempt plea, Jha alleged that there was "deliberate and willful default" of the June 25 undertaking given to the court by the NBCC.
He said that the alleged contemnor (NBCC CMD) had undertaken not to cut trees in areas concerned till July 4 but on Tuesday he noticed that the officials and workers of NBCC were cutting trees in Netaji Nagar in south Delhi.
A police complaint had been filed and he sought contempt action against authorities, the plea added.
On Monday, the court asked the NBCC not to cut the trees till the next date of hearing and the NBCC had assured the bench that it will not chop any tree till July 4.
The main petition was filed by orthopaedic surgeon Kaushal Kant Mishra against the Environment Ministry's order, saying that it would lead to felling of over 16,500 trees.
The six south Delhi colonies where the trees would be felled are Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar, Mohammadpur and Kasturba Nagar.
All these areas are home to government employees where the Central government is pulling down houses built in the 1950s and replacing them with high-rise buildings.
Besides the NBCC, the project is also being executed by the Central Public Works Department.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
