News: Tree felling starts for highway construction-06-04-2022
Authorities started cutting trees on the Pataudi Road on Wednesday to pave the way for the construction of a 46km-long four lane highway from Gurugram to Rewari
“A total of 8,400 trees will be cut in Gurugram district for widening the Gurugram-Rewari highway through Pataudi. The land was transferred by the forest department after all approvals were submitted to the forest corporation and felling of trees started on Wednesday. We will also carry out compensatory afforestation in Panchkula district, where we have already selected the land for the green drive,” said a senior official from the Gurugram branch of Haryana Forest Development Corporation.
Trees are being felled for the highway construction, for which the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already submitted an amount of ₹8 crores to the forest department for compensatory afforestation. The foundation stone of the highway project was laid in July 2020 by Union minister for road, transport and highways Nitin Gadkari.
P K Kaushik, project director of NHAI, said, “Work started for the Gurugram-Rewari highway in November last year and we are aiming to complete it within two years. Some trees had already been cut, we are working on constructing vehicular underpasses, culverts and other structures.”
The felling of trees came to light when a resident from the area called Vikrant Tongad, a Noida based environmentalist, and informed him about the incident. Tongad shared the news with his contemporaries in Gurugram and the matter soon received its due attention from the green enthusiasts in the city.
“At 3%, the forest cover in Haryana is one of the lowest in the country. Despite that, more trees are being cut. These are tall adult trees, which take years to grow and we may still not get back what we lose. It’s high time the authorities realise that alternative ways, which are sustainable, need to be followed for infrastructural development,” said Tongad.
Environmentalists said they will approach the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday to bring in a stay on the felling of trees.
Vivek Kamboj, a city-based environmentalist, said, “The cutting of trees is in contempt of a previous NGT order from 2017, wherein the court had said that compensatory afforestation (ten times the number of trees to be felled) has to be undertaken before trees are cut. We will file a petition in court asking for a stay on the felling of trees as this is an extreme environmental loss.”
In April 2017, the NGT had observed, “All the persons felling, cutting the trees in the forest area or even on the private land are hereby prohibited from cutting the trees unless and until they plant before cutting, 10 trees for each tree cut or felled from and/or proposed to be felled or cut. Further they shall deposit the sufficient money with the forest department to ensure that the trees are duly cared for and due protection, provided to them at least for a period of 5 years from the day of planting. The place of planting should be on that land itself or in the nearby land as determined by the forest department subject to these conditions...”
