Forest dept to plant 20,000 trees alongside Delhi-Meerut Expressway

The officials of the forest department said the plantation will take place under phase 4 of the expressway, which is about 32km from Dasna in Ghaziabad to Kashi toll plaza near Partapur, Meerut.

The divisional forest department will take up plantation of about 20,000 trees along the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in Ghaziabad, officials in the know of the matter said on Friday.

During the construction stage, the NHAI officials had estimated that about 100,000 trees would be felled alongside different phases of the expressway in Ghaziabad and about 88,000 trees will be planted alongside the two sides of the Dasna to Meerut stretch (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The officials said the activity will boost greenery on the expressway, 30km of which fall within the jurisdiction of Ghaziabad district. The officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said the plantation will enable them to achieve the target as many trees got damaged during the pandemic due to lack of maintenance and grooming.

The officials of the forest department said the plantation will take place under phase 4 of the expressway, which is about 32km from Dasna in Ghaziabad to Kashi toll plaza near Partapur, Meerut. The entire stretch is four lanes and passes through open fields and agricultural stretches.

“The plantation will be taken up by the forest department and it is estimated that the entire project will cost about ₹1.5 crore. We will be planting ornamental plants, trees from banyan family and also fruit bearing trees. This is being taken up in coordination with NHAI as the land alongside the expressway belongs to the highways authority,” said Manish Singh, divisional forest officer.

In August, 2019, the officials of NHAI said about 19,000 trees and shrubs were felled for phases 2 and 3 (UP-Gate to Dasna and Dasna to Hapur stretches) while about 3,500 trees were felled for carrying out construction on phase 4 (Dasna to Meerut).

“The NHAI has already deposited the funds for compensatory afforestation and this was to be done in Jalaun district,” the DFO said.

The Delhi-Meerut Expressway was formally inaugurated in December 2021,

During the construction stage, the NHAI officials had estimated that about 100,000 trees would be felled alongside different phases of the expressway in Ghaziabad and about 88,000 trees will be planted alongside the two sides of the Dasna to Meerut stretch (phase 4).

The first row along the expressway will be of small to medium ornamental shrubs while the subsequent row will comprise ornamental/ shade bearing species of medium height. The third row shall have shade trees such as neem, pipal, etc, the NHAI officials had said.

The officials said the proposed plantation by the forest department is in addition to the compensatory afforestation.

“It was estimated that about 88,000 trees would be planted along the phase 4 stretch as the other phases had lesser availability of land. In phase 4, we planted about 50,000 trees but they got damaged during the pandemic as maintenance was hampered. Still, we planted about 15,000 additional trees to compensate the loss. Now, the forest department will take up plantation and it will help us achieve the proposed target plantation in phase 4. The forest department will also maintain the plantation,” said an official from NHAI, asking not to be named.