Kanwar Marg: Compensatory afforestation to take place in Lalitpur, ecologists cry foul

After delaying the process for about a year, the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has finally identified about 235 hectres of non-forest land in Lalitpur district for compensatory afforestation (CA) of the nearly 100,000 trees to be felled for the 111km-long road project, popularly known as Kanwar Marg, alongside the upper Ganga canal (UGC), officials said on Thursday

After delaying the process for about a year, the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has finally identified about 235 hectres of non-forest land in Lalitpur district for compensatory afforestation (CA) of the nearly 100,000 trees to be felled for the 111km-long road project, popularly known as Kanwar Marg, alongside the upper Ganga canal (UGC), officials said on Thursday.

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The statement has been criticised by environmentalists who said that felling such a large number of mature trees will impact the wildlife and the environment in the region, not to mention the land alongside the UGC is a protected forest.

The Kanwar Marg project comprises two additional lanes on the right flank (Haridwar to Ghaziabad) of the UGC (in districts of Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar) from Muradnagar in Ghaziabad up to Purkaji near the UP-Uttarakhand border at a cost of about ₹658 crore. A two-lane road already exists on the left flank. The project will serve as a bypass for light vehicles travelling to Haridwar and also an alternate route for kanwariyas (devotees of lord Shiva) who currently use the Delhi-Meerut Road during the annual kanwar yatra. The road witnesses major diversions and curtailing of vehicular traffic during the pilgrimage.

“The project was delayed by about a year because of the non-availability of land meant for compensatory afforestation in Ghaziabad. We have identified non-forest land in Lalitpur district where compensatory afforestation will take place. It is estimated that we will fell about 100,000 trees,” an officer from PWD said, requesting anonymity.

Lalitpur district is about 550km from Ghaziabad. Provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and Forest Conservation Rules, 2003 (guidelines and clarifications) state, “In case non-forest land for CA is not available in the same district, it should be identified anywhere else in the concerned/State/Union Territory near to the site of diversion as far as possible, so as to minimise adverse impact on the micro-ecology of the area.”

“The land in Lalitpur belongs to the irrigation department and we have forwarded a proposal to the UP forest department for further formalities. Once the clearances are received, it is expected that project will take about one and a half years to complete,” the officer said.

Officials of the UP forest department said that the identification of land for compensatory afforestation was a major hurdle for the project.

“Since the districts faced land availability issues, the land for compensatory afforestation is identified in Lalitpur district. The final clearance will be given by the Centre since the land alongside the UGC is a protected forest,” said Ganga Prasad, conservator of forests (Meerut).

The UGC system supplies Ganga water from Haridwar to areas such as Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. There is a thick growth of trees alongside the canal.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, are up in arms against the felling of such a huge number of trees and its effect on the biodiversity of the region.

“The trees along the UGC are fully matured and old. Felling them will adversely impact the biodiversity and will also displace the wildlife. It will also adversely impact the environment due to loss of tree cover. Ghaziabad district particularly suffers from high levels of pollution and its forest cover has not improved over the years,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist and a lawyer.

“If there is non-availability of land, compensatory afforestation should be taken up alongside the Hindon river and its two tributaries – Krishni and Kali. These rivers are also polluted and there is a huge scope for plantation here,” said Dr Chandravir Singh, president of Doaba Paryavaran Samiti which has, in the past, filed petitions against pollution in the Hindon river.

According to the State of Forest Report released by Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI) in January, Ghaziabad district comprises 1,179sqkm of geographical area, of which only 25.22sqm (2.14%) is under forest cover.

The report said that there has been no change in the status of forest cover in the district since the previous assessment in 2019. In fact, the forest cover recorded in Ghaziabad in 2019 witnessed a decline of 0.78% compared to 2017.