Mangaluru: The National Green Tribunal’s order on Wednesday seems to have made the process of shifting the Dakshina Kannada district Deputy Commissioner’s office to a new location at Padil difficult.
The Tribunal has said that cutting of trees cannot take place till necessary permission from the prescribed authority is obtained and classification of land is done by forest department. Claiming that the land marked for construction of the Deputy Commissioner’s office at Padil has more than 400 trees of various species, the activists had opposed construction of the DC office. They felt the land was deemed forest and should not be given for construction of the office.
Activist and Advocate Suma Nayak had approached the National Green Tribunal. “The order was pronounced in an open court. Cutting of trees cannot take place till the requisite permission from the prescribed authority is obtained and classification of land is done by the forest department,” Suma Nayak said.
Shashidhar Shetty of National Environment Care Federation expressed happiness over the order. “The 5.5 acres of land at Padil where the DC office is proposed to be constructed has about 475 trees. Experts have conducted a study on the types of trees in the land. Felling of these trees for the sake of constructing the DC office cannot be agreed to. There is enough land in the present DC office (at Bunder). What is the necessity of shifting to new premises?” he questioned.
Meanwhile Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said that the administration would follow the Court’s order and get the nod from the authorities and departments concerned.
