JOIN USThe forest bench of Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia and Justice Aftab Alam said the state government has been allowed to carry out construction of the park in only 25 percent of the area on the bank of the river Yamuna.
''The plantation of trees should be especially dense towards the Okhla Bird Sanctuary on the western side of the project area. Any construction should commence only on completion of the planting of the trees,'' said the ruling while allowing further construction of the park.
"In order to ensure full compliance with the recommendations of the expert bodies (which form part of the judgment) and the directions of this Court, the construction of the project needs to be overseen by an expert committee. One member of the committee, preferably an ornithologist will be nominated by the MoEF, the other member will be nominated by the CEC in consultation with the amicus and the Chairman-cum-CEO of NOIDA will be the member-secretary of the committee," said the ruling.
The Supreme Court had stayed the construction work and installation of statues of the dalit leaders including those of Kanshiram and Mayawati at the park.
Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, a state government department, has been spending Rs 188 crore for the construction of a central plaza with statues of Mayawati, Kanshiram, Dr B R Ambedkar and others. The cost of each 18-feet tall bronze statue is Rs 1.5 crore, said S K Agarwal, project coordinator, in his reply to the RTI query on July 2.