SC sets conditions to cut trees for Ganga Jal project
Agra, May 20: The Supreme Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam to plant 2,500 saplings, maintain and look after them for 10 years in a secure fenced area in Firozabad district to compensate the felling of 234 trees that come in the way of the Ganga Jal pipeline that will bring water to the Taj City.
Details of the order were made available on Sunday. BJP MLA Yogendra Upadhyaya flaunted his achievement in getting an apex court nod for the proposed felling of the 234 trees. The Ganga Jal pipeline will bring water to Agra from Bulandshahar's Palra Jhaal canal.
The Rs 3,000 crore project is almost complete except for a stretch of five kilometres that has 234 trees as green barriers.
Green activists in Agra accused Upadhyaya of speaking "selective or half-truth".
"The Supreme Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam to obtain clearance from the Forest Department and cut only such number of trees which are absolutely essential for laying the conduit pipeline," activist Shravan Kumar Singh told IANS.
The apex court order noted that wherever feasible, the trees proposed to be cut were "uprooted and lifted upwards to enable laying of the pipeline and after which the trees are planted back at the same spot".
The order states that the 2.5 hectares of land identified in village Shekhupura for taking up compensatory planting "shall be chain-linked, fenced on two feet tall wall before June 30, 2018 by project authorities and handed over to the Forest Department for taking up afforestation work".
Further, the cost of planting 2,500 saplings and maintenance cost for 10 years will have to be deposited in a separate account with the Forest Department, before the grant of permission, the court said.
The objection to the felling of trees for the Ganga Jal Pipeline came initially from eco-lawyer M.C. Mehta, whose petition is being heard by a bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta.
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RG Kar incident: CBI questions close aide of arrested ex-principal Sandip Ghosh
Kolkata (PTI): CBI sleuths on Saturday started questioning another doctor, allegedly close to arrested former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh, in connection with their probe into the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the medical establishment, an officer of the agency said.
Birupaksha Biswas, who was recently transferred by the West Bengal Health Department from Burdwan Medical College and Hospital to remote Kakdwip hospital in South 24 Parganas district, appeared before officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at its CGO Complex office in Salt Lake area.
Biswas, allegedly part of a 'North Bengal lobby' operational in medical colleges, was seen at RG Kar Hospital on August 9, when the body of the woman medic was found, the CBI officer said.
The 'North Bengal lobby' is being referred by medics in West Bengal to a group of doctors and officials posted at state-run medical establishments who allegedly threatened students.
"He is being questioned about his presence at RG Kar Hospital on August 9 despite having no official engagement, apart from other queries," the officer told PTI.
Incidentally, an FIR has been lodged against Biswas and two other doctors -- Avik De and Ranjit Saha – with Bowbazar police station for allegedly threatening students at different medical colleges and hospitals across West Bengal.
They have been booked under Section 351 (assault as making a gesture or preparation causing someone to believe that they are about to be subjected to criminal force) of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita.
