Uttar Pradesh: NGT to probe allegations of over 1 lakh trees being cut for construction of 111-kms Kanwar route
The NGT are probing allegations of the illegal felling of trees for the construction of two lanes of the 111-km Kanwar route in Uttar Pradesh.
The National Green Tribunal is set to launch a probe into the allegations of illegal felling of trees for the construction of the 111-km Kanwar route in Uttar Pradesh. The green court has formed a four-member joint panel for investigation, and has asked the state’s chief secretary to ensure that there was no illegal felling of trees.
The NGT was hearing a matter regarding the alleged felling of more than one lakh trees and shrubs in the protected forest area across three forest divisions of Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar for the construction of the Kanwar road from Muradnagar (Ghaziabad district) to Purkaji (Muzaffarnagar district) near Uttarakhand border.
The joint committee formed by the tribunal will consist of Forest Survey of India’s director, a senior scientist of the Union environment ministry, a representative of UP chief secretary and the Meerut district magistrate.
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NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted in an order passed earlier this month that applicants filed photographic proof of the trees being uprooted with JCB machines.
The bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A Senthil Vel, noted UP government’s proposal to construct an eight-lane expressway on the same stretch was previously rejected due to environmental concerns.
The NGT bench also said that the previous report had underlined that the expressway would cause a lot of damage to the vegetation all along the upper Ganga canal and disturb the wildlife habitat.
Questioning the feasibility of the Uttar Pradesh expressway, the report said that there were already two roads connecting Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar with Uttarakhand via NH-58. There is also a Kanwar road on the left bank of the upper Ganga canal.
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"It is not clear if while taking a fresh decision, the earlier report of 2010 and conclusion recorded therein was considered," the tribunal observed. The green panel then considered the submissions of the assistant solicitor general, according to which, around 33,000 trees were to be felled for the construction, of which 17,450 trees were already cut.
The tribunal observed, "It is not clear if the geo-coordinates of the trees which existed before the project of construction on the stretch and the geo-coordinates of the trees which have been cut are available with the authorities. By comparing the same, it can be ascertained, if the illegal felling of trees has taken place in the process."
(With inputs from PTI)