Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri faced what appears to be his first Twitter confrontation on Sunday.
It all began when Twitter user @Airavta asked him about the cutting of 17,000 trees in the national capital. "Why didn't you consider to make accommodations in Dwarka or Rohini or outer Delhi minister @HardeepSPuri Ji ? Don't you think this project of yours is lethal & unreasonable?" the user asked.
Not taking kindly to the tone used, the minister replied, "Be careful with your tone. Just because I am a public servant, you cannot take the liberty of being offensive. All this predates me. The decision taken will ensure that at no point of time will there be even one less tree in the area. Read r press release, if you have interest."
This resulted in backlash, with a number of tweeple trolling Puri for not answering the question and being 'aggressive' to what appeared to be a 'harmless query'.
That's when the minister decided to share some info of the same. In a series of tweets, he wrote, "There will not be one tree less than there are today & the green cover will be threefold. Mischief mongers are not able to identify or appreciate the facts & continue to misinform genuinely concerned citizens who should check this link for details."
"Misinformation has become the hallmark of out-of-ideas outfits of Delhi which intentionally peddled fake narratives, first on metro fares & now on trees. They are aware, but refuse to admit, that fares are neither controlled by their state govt or @MoHUA_India. If this band of trolls was so concerned about citizens then it should certainly have raised its concern on the dilapidated condition of DTC & total absence of buses. I request citizens to check the facts & not be misled by these mischief mongers," he added.
Puri, however, had an unlikely ally in AAP leader Ashutosh, who tweeted, "Mr Minister @HardeepSPuri You are in public domain and you had been a diplomat, now you must be realising how/what Troll army of ur party does with ur opponents ? Don’t lose your cool Mr Minister, its already very hot outside. Better you smile."
To which Puri replied, "Should have realised. Thought they were concerned citizens. Sense of humour and a thick skin. That is what is needed. Thanks for the advice."
Meanwhile, the BJP and AAP have been playing the blame game over who gave permission to cut down 17,000 trees in the national capital ith Union minister Harsh Vardhan claiming that the AAP government was responsible for granting the permission to fell trees in non-forest areas and the latter claiming that the clearance for the same was issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in November last year.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is up in arms against the BJP government at the Centre, alleging that around 17,000 trees will be felled for the redevelopment plan.
Vardhan said according to the information he had, the area where the trees were to be felled was a "non-forest area" and the Forest department of the Government of India had nothing to do with it.
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