Upper Ganga Canal road project: PWD submits revised plan to UP government

The under-construction two-lane road project alongside the Upper Ganga Canal links Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar to Purkaji near the UP-Uttarakhand border

Ghaziabad: The public works department has sent a revised estimate plan to the Uttar Pradesh government about change in alignment of the 111km Upper Ganga Canal road project, expecting that the plan will also reduce the tree felling, officials said on Tuesday.

The green tribunal on August 9, 2024, had directed to set up a joint-committee comprising the director of the Forest Survey of India, a Union environment ministry senior scientist, and UP chief secretary or his representative. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The under-construction two-lane road project alongside the Upper Ganga Canal links Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar to Purkaji near the UP-Uttarakhand border. The project cost was estimated at ₹658 crore.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is currently hearing the matter of constructing the road that passes through ecologically sensitive areas, after taking cognizance of a Hindustan Times report (February 1, 2024), about how the state government’s forest department gave the nod to fell about 112,722 trees and shrubs in the protected forests of three forest divisions — Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar—to build two lanes of the road.

“The PWD has submitted a revised plan and estimate of change in alignment of the road. Earlier, the road was planned to be built about 9 metres from the edge of the canal. Now, it is planned to be constructed about 2-2.5 metres from the edge. This change involves costs, and will also reduce the number of trees to be felled for the project. A detailed plan has been sent by the department to the government. We hope that work for the road, currently on hold, may begin after this step,” said PWD executive engineer Ram Raja.

“The tribunal had asked for alternatives to save trees. So, a changed alignment was proposed. The plan has been finally submitted to the government,” Raja added.

PWD’s executive engineer Sanjay Singh, the nodal officer for the project, did not respond to calls for further response.

Environmentalists have claimed that the large-scale tree felling would severely impact the environment and the natural wildlife habitat in the region.

The counsels, appearing for the UP, submitted before the tribunal in January that the proposed changed alignment would reduce the tree felling by about two-thirds of the originally proposed number.

The tribunal on August 9, 2024, had directed to set up a joint-committee comprising the director of the Forest Survey of India, a Union environment ministry senior scientist, and UP chief secretary or his representative.

The committee’s report submitted to the tribunal in January said, “Presently an NOC from the irrigation department, UP, is under consideration to construct the Kanwar Marg on the right side banks of the Upper Ganga Canal after leaving two metre dwala (dwarf bund). Such a lateral shift in alignment of 7.5 metres towards the canal will save a substantial number of trees/plants.”

Tree cutting was taken up at about 62kms out of 111.49kms of the road stretch, and the remaining approximately 40 km stretch remains untouched, it added.

“Even if there is a claim of reduction in tree felling due to proposed alignment, many old trees have already been lost. Instead of building a new road and tree felling, existing two-lane road on the opposite side should have been widened. The commute to Uttarakhand will now be easy as the Delhi-Dehradun highway project is complete. So, the new road will have little utility,” said Sushil Raghav, a city-based environmentalist.