For violation of National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders on public fire and burning trees and leaves, the Society for the Protection of Environment and Biodiversity (SPENBIO), an NGO, filed an FIR against the Ghaziabad Municipal Commissioner, Chief Health Officer and Chief Horticulture Incharge on Thursday.
Akash Vashishtha, the trustee of the NGO, stated in his complaint to the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) that NGT has ordered not to burn waste in the open but Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation is blatantly flouting NGT orders.
“The garbage is being dumped on the greenery alongside the railway track facing posh residential locality of Raj Nagar. By this act of the municipal body, several hundred trees have been burnt alive and thousands are facing threat to their lives. The adverse impact is also being posed on the habitat of birds, worms and other types of creatures,” he stated in his complaint.
Since the DFO is the competent authority to protect the lives of the trees, the complaint is being filed before the Ghaziabad office of the DFO to initiate legal action against the offenders at the earliest and to protect the biodiversity.
“The hazardous waste is being burnt openly round-the-clock, which has completely burnt several hundred trees in the said green belt. It is the direct responsibility of the DFO to protect the trees. So I request you to lodge an FIR against Municipal Commissioner Abdul Samad, Chief Health Officer
RK Yadav and Chief Horticulture Incharge Satyendra Tiwari under the UP Tree Protection Act, 1976 for perpetrating such large-scale burning and destruction of trees,” stated Akash Vashishtha in his complaint.