The NBCC on Monday issued revised General Conditions of Contract (GCC) making it mandatory for contractors to plant trees in proportion to the value of the project. This comes days after the tree-cutting controversy that had erupted during the redevelopment of some colonies by NBCC in the national Capital. According to the new announcement, the contractors will now have to plant 500 trees for projects having an estimated cost of up to `100 crore.
For projects valued between `100 crore and `300 crore, the contractors will now have to plant and maintain 500 trees, plus two trees for each `1 one crore value above `100 crore. Similarly, for projects valued at over `300 crore, the contractors will have to plant and maintain 1,000 trees plus one tree for each `1 crore value above `300 crore.
"The contractor at his own cost will plant at least 5-feet-high trees of different varieties at the project site, or in any specified area within a 20 km radius if space is not available at the project site. This will be with the approval of the engineer-in-charge, within six months of handing over the site to the contractor by NBCC," the company has notified through a circular.
"We are an environment-conscious corporate and sustainable development is our constant endeavour," said Anoop Kumar Mittal, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NBCC.
Earlier NBCC conditions stipulated planting of 50 trees for projects valued between `25 crore and `100 crore, 100 trees for projects valued between `100 crore and `300 crore, and 200 trees for projects valued above `300 crore.