Residents, activists and several civil society groups of and around Netaji Nagar organised a musical protest against the felling of trees in the city.
Protesters wore green ribbons around their wrists and held placards with slogans written against the government's move. Music and poetry were used during the protest to draw the attention towards the importance of the trees.
Speaking to DNA, Vimlendu Jha, member of 'My Right To Breathe', said, "You (government) must have bought air purifiers, but the trees are our only air purifiers. We have to be vigilant, otherwise, they (government) will keep cutting our trees and create infrastructures like malls in Saket and Vasant Kunj. We should question them for every tree that they cut down."
"We need to send a message through our protests to the government. We are not anti-development, but we are just pro-health, pro-environment. We are environmentalists advocating change," said Jai Dhar Gupta, member of 'My Right To Breathe'.
The peaceful protest was attended by people of all ages- from little children to senior citizens, who shared an interest in a common issue - cutting down of natural air purifiers.
The protest also saw children, as young as 11-year-olds, reciting heartfelt poems to the band of drummers performing. Some singers, belly dancers, Youtubers and poets gave their best performances at the protest.
The Delhi High Court put an interim stay on the controversial NBCC tree cutting project till July 4. "Can Delhi afford to cut-off trees for the development of roads & buildings?" the High Court asked NBCC, the body that has been given the contract of redeveloping these colonies in the national Capital.
Later, in a meeting chaired by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the government decided to rework and redesign the project.
A number of people have gone up in arms after reports that 17,000 trees were going to be chopped down to redevelop seven colonies in South Delhi. The move has once again started a political blame game within the parties in the Capital.
