Felling of trees: NGT summons report on ‘Kanwar Road’
A case has also been registered against RCC Developers Ltd for cutting down trees beyond the approved area.
MEERUT: A team from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has summoned reports from various departments involved in the construction of the 102 km long road connecting Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar, referred to as the ‘Kanwar Road’ along the left bank of the Madhya Ganga Canal, following an inspection of the construction site in Meerut on September 9.
State Forest Corporation’s divisional logging manager (DLM), Brahmanand, shared that the NGT team inspected the site on September 9 and instructed the forest corporation, forest department, PWD, and irrigation department to submit their reports on various aspects related to the project, including the felling of trees.
The construction at the site has been halted since July 2 after Samajwadi Party MLA Atul Pradhan filed a complaint with officials and the NGT regarding the illegal felling of trees during the road’s construction.
State chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh also visited the site on August 7 to investigate the allegations, and a case was subsequently filed against RCC Developers Ltd., the company contracted for the tree felling, at Jani police station the day after his visit.
The company is accused of cutting down trees beyond the approved project area. Approval was granted for the felling of 1.12 lakh trees within a 27-metre-wide zone on the left bank of the canal for the road’s construction. So far, 27,000 trees have been felled.
The DLM said that tree felling at the site had been halted for over three months following the MLA’s complaint. He also confirmed that the police investigation against the contractor company was underway.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLA Atul Pradhan said that he had been consistently following up on the case, leading to the NGT team’s visit, and another team was expected to inspect the site soon.
A road for Kanwar yatra already exists on the right bank of the canal and the purpose of the construction of the road on left bank was to reduce the heavy rush of Kanwarias on NH 58. The project, sanctioned two years ago and scheduled for completion in 2025 before the Kanwar Yatra, has faced delays due to the ongoing NGT investigation.
Brahmanand said that the construction work would only resume after receiving permission from the NGT and acknowledged that the project was likely to face further delays since multiple departments required to submit their reports, which the NGT would review before deciding on further action regarding the complaints.
An FIR has been filed against the company under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Section 33 of the Indian Forest Act, alleging that the company violated orders and continued uprooting trees at lot numbers 100 and 101 in the Rithani range.