RA TDC: Possible tree destruction / felling on the entire Crown
Dear Community,
In the last few days the rumours have become louder that the AVFO / Secretary Ms Jayanthi Ravi will order the destruction of the trees on the crown to be able to go ahead with the construction of the crown road.
Yesterday the secretary, Ms J. Ravi together with Dena Merriam and Raghu along with an international delegation attending the so-called spiritual science summit in Auroville, held a pooja in Darkali to basically announce the imminent destruction of over 300 trees in Darkali alone. The other stretches of the crown such as the Solar Kitchen to Arka stretch, where there are 160 + avenue trees ), especially planted to shade the road, funded by the European Union in 2003 and more recently TDEF trees planted in consultation with the ATDC. There are hundred more trees on the remaining stretches of the proposed crown that will likely be destroyed soon if they are not stopped.
Our request to all and everyone, please be vigilant, immediately inform in case you see something suspicious, such as fences being opened or JCB in the area of Darkali, Kalabhumi, Akra to SK or entering a forest.
We have to demand that they produce the relevant permissions such as work orders before anything can be cleared. They should not be permitted to go ahead until we have received a public notification that they have permission from the NGT following due process.
The report of the Joint Committee (JC) constituted by the NGT has so far only reported on the trees and water bodies in Darkali . To the best of our knowledge they have not made a report for the other stretches of the crown, furthermore the JC report has not been officially heard in the NGT, so that any clearing would be premature at this point and in contempt of the NGT ruling of 28 04 2022.
We highlight again that this is a vanity project which has impeded the sensible development of Auroville. We have demonstrated that, if and when such a development is found necessary as part of a genuine planning exercise, minor adjustment to the trajectories can greatly reduce the environmental impact and still provide appropriate connectivity.
in Service
L’avenir d’Auroville – TDC Town Development Council
Allan B, Anan, Dorle, Divya L, Island, Meera N, Natasha S, Tom G