INDIA GREENS PARTY
(Registered with the Election Commission of India under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Registration Number: 56/476/2018-19/PPS-I, effective from 18/07/2019.)
Party HQ: 104, Vardhman Complex, 1st Floor, LSC, Savita Vihar, Delhi-110092.
Email: indiagreensparty@gmail.com Website: www.indiagreensparty.org
PETITION TO THE PRIME MINISTER
To
Shri Narendra Modi
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India
New Delhi.
Subject: Petition to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India requesting him to abandon the expansion plan of the Jolly Grant Airport near Dehradun in Uttarakhand
Hon’ble Prime Minister Sir,
Greetings from the India Greens Party, the first pan-India Green party in the country!
This is our first interaction with you Hon’ble Prime Minister Sir!
Through this communication, the India Greens Party (IGP) requests your good office to abandon the expansion plan of the Jolly Grant Airport near Dehradun in Uttarakhand.
The IGP would like to point out that over 10,000 trees will be felled if the National Wildlife Board (NWLB) does not stop the expansion plan of the Jolly Grant Dehradun Airport.
We are given to understand that the Uttarakhand Government has sought the NWLB’s approval to transfer 243 acres of forest land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for expanding the Jolly Grant Dehradun Airport.
Ho’ble Sir, the Thano range of the Dehradun forest division to which the airport is proposed to be expanded comes within a 10-km radius of the Rajaji National Park Eco-Sensitive Zone. Therefore, the NWLB must not be allowed to give permission for the expansion of the Jolly Grant Dehradun Airport from the current length of 2,140 metres to 2,765 metres with the construction of an additional 625-metre stretch for the runway.
The IGP hopes that you being Chairperson of the NWLB you will not allow the expansion of an airport at the cost of 10,000 precious and life-giving trees.
Also, our understanding is that the move to cut the trees in the Thano range could also affect wildlife movement in the elephant corridors.
The animals living there will lose their habitat. Wild animals like Leopards, Porcupines, Wild cats, Elephants, Deer, Owls, Eagles, Anteaters, Wild boars, Hares, Snakes, Monkeys all are found there in good population.
There is an elephant corridor nearby. Elephants are a common sight in this area.
Rare species like Pangolin and Monitor lizard have also been sighted here. The area is a thick forest with many animals and birds living there.
What will happen to them?
It is also our duty to let you know of the possible severe damage to the region’s delicate ecology.
Hon’ble Sir, extensive construction and widening of roads in Uttarakhand and other Himalayan states in recent years have already caused huge damage to the ecological systems.
The only solution is to let the airport be as it is without harming the surrounding ecosystems.
Our future generations need good environment to breathe freely without masks.
The IGP also finds this opportunity to convey to you that NWLB needs to be democratised. It has not met for a long period of time. The policy decisions and clearances come from a Standing Committee which is not broad-based. The wildlife experts who spent decades of their life for saving wildlife have been kept away from the Board. We fail to understand why only retired forest officers have found a place in the Board.
As a result, the primary function of the NWLB, to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests, has not been achieved properly.
Thank you very much Hon’ble Sir!
Sincerely yours with the best Green wishes,
Suresh Nautiyal
President of the India Greens Party.
Email: indiagreensparty@gmail.com
