NHAI to fell 10,000 trees for widening Sohna Road, flyover

The Haryana forest department had sent a proposal to the Union ministry of environment and forests in this regard last year. The approval reportedly came on Monday.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is likely to cut nearly 10,000 fully grown trees on Sohna Road for the construction of a flyover and widening the road over the next two-and-a-half years.

The tree will be felled under the ‘strict supervision’ of the state forest department. (Yogesh Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The Haryana forest department had sent a proposal to the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF), the government of India, last year, seeking approval in this regard. An official familiar with the development said the department received the approval from the ministry on Monday.

“Efforts should be made to fell minimum number of trees and in any case, not more than 9,650 trees to be removed. The tree should be felled under the strict supervision of the state forest department, and the NHAI will not use forest land for any other purpose,” read the MoEF letter.

The NHAI took over Sohna Road from public works department (PWD), Haryana, three years ago and termed it NH 248-A – starting from Rajiv Chowk (NH-8 near Mini Secretariat) up to Alwar in Rajasthan. This is a four-lane road at present and the NHAI plans to construct a flyover and widen the 20-kilometre stretch, from Subhash Chowk to Sohna.

The MoEF letter stated that the Haryana forest department will transfer 52 hectares to the NHAI, which will have to pay Rs50 crore for fresh plantation under the compensatory afforestation plan.

D Hembram, conservator of forest, Gurugram, said, “I will have to check the facts of compensatory afforestation plan in this regard. If a 52-hectare forest land would be deforested, then afforestation will take place on a minimum of 104 hectares and it has to happen within a year of the permission.”

NHAI plans to construct a flyover from Subhash Chowk up to a point beyond the Badshahpur village – nearly 5.5 kilometres in length. From this point, the Aravalli forest zone starts, with thick green trees on both sides of the 90-kilometre stretch of NH-248A.

“I will not comment about tree felling, but the construction is to start by September-end. The 90-km stretch would be widened in phases. The plan, currently, is only to widen a 20-kilometre stretch in Gurugram district. The work has been awarded,” said Ashok Kumar Sharma, project director, NHAI, Gurugram.

In another part of the city, the PWD is to fell 1,300 trees to construct a flyover and an underpass at Atul Kataria Chowk on the old-Delhi road. A senior forest official, on the condition of anonymity, told the Hindustan Times that nearly 25,000 trees have been felled in the in the district in past five years.

Residents, however, are perturbed by the planned large-scale deforestation.

A former head of the department of landscape and architecture, school of planning and architecture (SPA) New Delhi, said, “Delhi-NCR has seen large-scale tree felling and that, in my opinion, happened because of poor planning. The government has never been sensitive to tree protection; they grant cutting permission without thought as this is not a priority at all.”

Chetna, an NGO working in this regard in Delhi-NCR, has already moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against NHAI for not developing greenery along eastern and western peripheral roads. Anil Sood, founder-director of Chetna, said, “I will file this matter in NGT on August 16, when a hearing is fixed in my case.”