Fighting for human race, says Delhi HC

It is for survival of the human race and love for it that directions have been passed for the past one year on the issue of air pollution, the Delhi high court on Thursday said while asking AAP government to show what has been done to protect trees in the city.

“We are not fighting for the environment but for survival of the human race. Not for love of plants and trees, but love for the human race,” a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said while noting that forest density was less in many areas of the capital.

“Show us what you have done in last one year Show us photos and maps Show us the action you have taken We do not want words (on paper) we want to see it,” the bench added.

It observed that normally when nature was left to itself, it would reclaim the land it has lost, but the human race never leaves anything alone.

“Greed overtakes everything,” it added.

The court directed the Delhi government to place before it data of 1996 with regard to forest cover as it existed back then in the national capital and the current position. It directed the government to file the data and reports within six weeks.

The Delhi police, meanwhile, was asked to file an affidavit within two weeks on how it was going to utilise balance funds of around `175 crore that was currently with it and with specific timelines.

The direction was issued after Central government standing counsel Vivek Goyal informed the bench that as per a communication received from ministry of home affairs (MHA), `275 crore was allocated for the period 2012-2017 to Delhi police for spending on modernisation of traffic and communication network of the force, but only about `100 crore has been spent till 2016.

Taking note of the submission, the court observed that the police had spent only “paltry sums” in last four years and now in the fifth year of plan, it was going to “splurge” which was “not how planning works”. The submissions by Mr Goyal came in response to an earlier direction by the bench to the Centre to submit a proposal to the court regarding allocation of specific funds for specific purposes.