Open-Reply to the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University
Reply to VC’s response, as the Sports Complex gears up for launching the Youth Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your speedy reply.
Sir, you did not solve our queries but only added to our list of issues.
1. Of course the university can do with some lot of good sporting facilities. But these need not come at the cost of existing infrastructure, and that too a natural infrastructure such as the green space that only gives us so much without asking anything in return.
2. Through the media, we were informed that the sports facility would be shifted and constructed at the University Polo Ground, which clearly does not seem to be the case.
3. The construction around the Kamla Nehru Ridge and your office, would only pose a big threat to both these entities. This would come both during the construction phase and also after the structure has been built, and unplanned Urban Planning is something we had thought would never be allowed at/by the University of Delhi.
4. The trees that are said to be transplanted are being done in a really bad manner. We talked to the workers there, who showed us some plant hormones and how they are applied, but when we checked the status of the trees in the off-campus hostels, we could tell they would not last long. However, in the absence of any data, we need to assess the percentage survival rate and need your help with that Sir.
5. Last, but never the least, you mentioned 3-5 years before the campus becomes even more green. However Sir, in this short span of a time, only those trees can grow that have been an ecological disaster for the city. But since these trees grow in the short span of time that they do, they are selected, without considering the long term environmental impacts. We hope the university and the garden committee would take note of that.
On behalf of concerned students,
University of Delhi
.
Previously on Delhi Greens:
- Open letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University
- VC responds as Trees are taken away from the Campus