UGC road project: NGT seeks satellite imaging, directs UP to stop illegal tree felling
The ₹658-crore proposed road project is to be taken up by the UP public works department (PWD), and will be funded by the state government
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought from the Survey of India satellite images of a stretch of the land along the 111km Upper Ganga Canal, where a road project called “Kanwar Marg” has been proposed by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government for linking Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar to Purkazi near the Uttarakhand border, to facilitate the pilgrimage of Kanwar Yatra.
The green tribunal has also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that no “illegal felling of trees” takes place along the proposed stretch.
The NGT is hearing the matter after taking suo motu cognisance of a Hindustan Times report, dated February 1, about how the Uttar Pradesh government’s forest department has given its nod for felling more than 100,000 (112,722) trees and shrubs in the protected forests of three forest divisions — Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar — for the construction of two lanes of the 111km road project.
The ₹658-crore proposed road project is to be taken up by the UP public works department (PWD), and will be funded by the state government. This road, officials said, will serve as a bypass for light vehicles, and will be an alternative route for Kanwariyas travelling to and from Haridwar during the annual Kanwar Yatra.
The tribunal’s principal bench has already impleaded officials of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as respondents in the case. Two interveners have also joined the case for protecting the trees.
One of the interveners in the case is a local MLA from Meerut while others are from Ghaziabad and include former municipal councillor Rajendra Tyagi and environmentalists, Satendra Singh and Vikrant Tongad.
The tribunal, while hearing the matter on July 8, observed that counsels for UP have submitted that the original width of the proposed road was 20 metres which at some places has been reduced to 15 metres to minimise the felling of trees, but there is an allegation by the proposed interveners that the trees have been cut much beyond the permitted limits.
“To ascertain the correct position, we direct the Survey of India to file the satellite images of the stretch under consideration showing the extent of trees which have been cut on both sides of the canal…,” the tribunal said.
The Survey of India is country’s central engineering agency which is in charge of mapping and surveying.
The interveners also pointed out that illegal felling of trees in the garb of widening of the road is taking place and has referred to the FIR related to that. On this, the NGT said, “We direct that the state authorities to ensure that no illegal felling of tree takes place beyond the permission/ decision of 20/15 metres width of the proposed road.”
Related to the issue, the tribunal observed that the interveners have made an allegation that though the permission was granted for construction of the road on the right side of the canal, up to 20/15 metres, trees were allegedly chopped within a width of 40 metres.
Sanjay Singh, executive officer, UP-PWD, and also the nodal officer of the project, did not respond to calls seeking his comment on the matter on Thursday.
Quoting interveners, the tribunal said on the right side of the canal, a five metre kacha (untarred) road already existed and a road of a width of up to 15-20 metres (including the kacha road) could have been constructed to minimise tree felling. But, instead the UP PWD is constructing two separate 20 and 15 metre wide roads, it observed.
“This also needs to be explained,” the tribunal said in its order.