Chandigarh : Despite protests by Chandigarh residents against construction of an unnecessary over-bridge in Sector 17 and felling of 60 trees, the Chandigarh Administration had its way. In an early morning clandestine operation, over 200 Chandigarh administration officials reached Sector 17 site with 8 JCB machines and 10 trucks to cut 60 trees. The ususally lethargic administration officials started the operation of cutting trees at around 7 a.m. On Sunday morning despite being told by the activists that they have filed a writ in the High Court which will come up for hearing on Tuesday. Unconvinced, the officials and the staff said they have the permission directly from the Governor to go ahead.
The activists embraced the trees in a typical “Chipko” style and themselves called the police to prevent the felling of trees. Instead of listening to the activists, the Police dragged the activists, beat them up and arrested under the widely abused provisions of Section 107 and 151 of Cr. P. C. claiming that the activists were there to commit a cognizable offence. Out of around 20 protesters, only three activists, namely Dr. Gaurav Chhabra, Ranbir Singh and Arshinder Kaur were arrested by the police and detained in Sector 17 police station.
Dr. Gaurav mentioned that by misusing the name of Le Corbusier the Chandigarh Administration is trying to fullfill their own hidden agenda. There are at-least more than 50 pending projects of Le Corbusier which are of pressing nature and which will make the life of Chanidgarh resident easier. Instead of doing some real work, the Chandigarh administration is indulging in corruption and to help the two upcoming malls on the road and hotel Taj.
Arshinder Kaur said that cutting of the trees will not contribute to the development but rather result in breaking the very fabric of life. The way Chandigarh Administration acted in itself shows that they are doing something wrong otherwise why would they cut the trees in an early morning operation on Sunday.
Activist Ranbir Singh said, “I was there for a peaceful protest and embracing a tree, it’s not an offence. The policemen came in and thrashed us like anything. This is no way for police to behave in a democratic country. Despite the fact that no cognizable offense has been committed still we have been detained for no reason.”
Navdeep Asija the founder of eco-cab concept, who has been recently asked by the High Court to help the Government in traffic management said that there was no problem of traffic congestion on the Sector 17 road where this over-bridge is coming up. Asija mentioned, “On the one hand the Chandigarh Administration is giving affadavit in the High Court to make Sector 17 as car-free area and on the other hand spending over 100 crores to facilitate motor transport in the middle of Sector 17. This is ludicrous.”