New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, on Friday approved a proposal of afforestation and compensatory plantation of trees for the construction of the Thal Sena Bhawan in the Cantonment area. Saxena also recorded his appreciation for the timely action taken by the environment department in this case and expressed hope that that the department, the environment minister and the Chief Minister will continue to work in the same earnest and with same alacrity in the future, thereby avoiding delays in execution of projects. "The principal secretary (environment) signed the file on January 20 and marked it to the concerned minister. The file was received in the office of the minister on January 23 and the same was cleared on January 30. The file was then marked to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who signed it on January 31 and the file was received in Raj Niwas on the same day. The proposals that used to take years together was processed and cleared by in a record 11 days. All the nudge and shove by the L-G seem to have started having positive effects," said an official from the L-G Secretariat. The Ministry of Defence has proposed the construction of the Thal Sena Bhawan in Delhi Cantt area, with an intention to develop the site as a state-of-the-art facility for the army. Kejriwal granted the approval on Thursday for the removal and transplantation of 579 trees to aid the construction of the new Indian Army headquarters. While granting the approval, Delhi government made it mandatory for the Defence Ministry to plant 10 times the trees transplanted and removed. The ministry will have to plant 5,790 new trees around the site to maintain ecological balance. These trees will be planted on the identified land parcels within three months from the date on which the permission for shifting of the trees will be issued. /IANS