Permission sought to axe 1,500 trees for RRTS in Gurugram
Around 1,500 fully grown trees in the district will be likely axed over the next six to nine months, if the forest department gives a go-ahead to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), mandated for implementing the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project. Though the divisional forest officer assured that trees would be transplanted and compensatory plantation will be done, civil society members expressed their disappointment over the loss of tress cover.
The NCRTC wants to remove trees growing along the alignment of the RRTS and has sought permission for the same. A forest department team will inspect the route map for 164km rail corridor between Saria Kale Khan-Delhi and Alwar-Rajasthan before making a decision. Roughly 21km of this route is in Gurugram—from Kapashera border to Panchgaon—and will likely pass through Old Delhi-Gurugram Road and Delhi Gurgaon Expressway.
Officials said that most of the 1,500 trees are on land which comes under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and permission for felling them has to be given by the forest department, as per rules.
“A team from the forest department will count trees to verify the details provided in the NCRTC application and accordingly make a plan of cutting or transplanting them. An estimate will be sent to the chief conservator of forest for approval. The process may take a month or two,” said a forest department official who did not wish to be named.
“For the NCRTC project, our team will verify the route and trees along it and take action accordingly. I will ensure in case of the NCRTC, trees are transplanted and provision of mandatory compensatory plantation is followed,” Gurugram divisional forest officer Jai Kumar said.
Vivek Kamboj, founder director of NGO Hariyali, said, “This is sad that the forest department has failed to protect trees. The transplantation in all such cases has not been done at all. No government agencies have ever followed mandatory compensatory plantation provision.”
“As far as transplantation and compensatory plantation data vis-à-vis permissions given to various departments earlier, I have sought a report from the wing concerned and I will review the same next week,” Kumar said.
The forest department officials said they don’t have data to ascertain mandatory provisions of transplantations of trees, but three to five times compensatory plantation of new saplings in all the above cases was followed.
Over the past two years, the forest department Gurugram has given permission to the NHAI for removal of nearly 15,000 trees for various infrastructure projects.
In 2019, the forest department gave permission to the Public Works Department to remove 1,300 trees for construction of a flyover and underpass at Atul Kataria Chowk. The same year, the forest department gave permission to the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to remove 450 trees for the four road widening works—three roads in Udyog Vihar and one between Rezangla Chowk and Bijwasan border.
