Nature enthusiasts in the city have launched an online campaign - Save 1,713 trees at Pragati Maidan - and are also sourcing money through crowd funding to hire a lawyer to "defend the mute trees". The trees proposed to be razed are mostly adult pilkhan trees, and some peepal and bargad too.

Less than a month back, residents of RWAs near Aurobindo Marg, south Delhi, forced the state government to revert its decision to axe around 30 healthy neem trees for a road-widening project. Environment minister Imran Hussain himself intervened to stop the damage.

The proposal to remove 1,713 trees from the iconic Trade Fair venue of Delhi emerged after an RTI by activist Aditya Prasad.COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION

National Buildings Construction Corporation - a central government undertaking which is redeveloping Pragati Maidan - says it has obtained requisite permission from the Delhi forest department and in fact, will plant over 17,000 trees as compensatory afforestation around east Delhi.