Realigned Upper Ganga Canal road to spare trees: UP govt to NGT

The Uttar Pradesh government has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the realignment of the 111km Upper Ganga Canal road project has been approved and at least two months’ time is required to receive approvals from the forest department

The Uttar Pradesh government has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the realignment of the 111km Upper Ganga Canal road project has been approved and at least two months’ time is required to receive approvals from the forest department.

Under the new plan, the road will be built 2.5 metres away from the edge of the canal. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The tribunal is currently hearing the matter after taking cognizance of an HT report dated February 1, which revealed that the state forest department had allowed the felling of 112,722 trees and shrubs in protected forest areas across Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar divisions to construct two lanes of the proposed road.

During a hearing on July 16, the additional solicitor general (ASG) provided submissions to NGT. The court order was uploaded on July 17. “ASG has submitted that approval for realignment of the road has been done and forest clearance is awaited, which is likely to take one or two months, therefore, he has made a request for deferring the hearing for two months,” the court said in the order.

The state government’s counsel during a hearing on January 20 had told the tribunal about a “changed alignment” for the remaining portion of the under-construction 111km of the Kanwar Marg road project along the Upper Ganga Canal to cut down felling to at least two-thirds of the originally proposed number of trees/plants.

“The AAG (additional advocate general) appearing for the state of Uttar Pradesh submits that for the remaining road, the alignment is proposed to be changed, for which the irrigation department has given NOC, and the state will now seek all other clearances, including EIA (environmental impact assessment) for the changed alignment from the competent authorities. She has said that with the changed alignment, the felling of trees will be cut down to two-thirds of the originally proposed felling of trees,” the tribunal had said on January 20.

Sanjay Singh, the executive engineer of the public works department (PWD) and also the nodal officer for the project, did not respond to calls seeking a response.

“Earlier, it was proposed that the road would be constructed at least nine metres from the edge of the canal. However, according to the changed alignment, it is now proposed to be constructed 2.5 metres from the edge of the canal. So, this will save a number of trees from being felled. Considering this, we sent a revised estimate to the state government for approval. Required forest clearances as per procedure take time, so a time of 1-2 months has been sought,” said Ram Raja, executive engineer of PWD.

Officials aware of the development said that the state government, in a letter dated July 9, provided administrative and financial approval for the revised estimates.

The previous revised estimate for the project was ₹701.55 crore against the original cost of ₹628.74 crore while the re-revised cost now is pegged at ₹627.05 crore, the officials quoting the letter said.

The tribunal scheduled the next hearing for October 9.