The Delhi High Court on Monday suggested to the government an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India into the number of trees felled in the national capital for various projects.
It also remarked that if trees were included as voters in electoral rolls, they would have been spared the axe.
The remarks were made by a division bench of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Justice Ashutosh Kumar while hearing suo motu proceedings on air pollution in the national capital.
The court took note that the Delhi Metro and Asola sanctuary authorities had axed a large number of trees in the national capital for various projects.
The court noted that the Delhi government had not taken steps to identify and remove encroachments in the Asola-Bhati wildlife sanctuary and fixed the matter for hearing on March 9.
--IANS
akk/tsb/dg