The National Green Tribunal(NGT)has been informed by the UP government's environment department that over 1.12 lakh trees will be felled in the protected forest area in the state to make way for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra route.

The NGT had sought a reply from the secretary of the state's environment department in a case pertaining to the felling of more than one lakh trees and shrubs in the protected forest area.

 The area in question spreads across three forest divisions of Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar for the proposed route between Muradnagar in Ghaziabad and Purkaji in Muzaffarnagar.

The reply, filed by UP principal secretary, Department of Environment, and dated November 19 said, "It is important to mention that the Public Works Department (PWD) received permission to cut 1,12,722 trees/plants for the Kanwar Marg project, as approved by the (Union) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on February 28, 2023."

It said at present, 25,410 trees had been marked and assigned for felling, of which 17,607 were cut by the PWD under the supervision of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation. "Presently, the tree-cutting work has been suspended by PWD since August 9, 2024, and tree felling in certain stretches of the proposed alignment has not commenced," said the reply uploaded on the tribunal's website on Friday.

Noting that the tribunal asked the secretary to enumerate the number of trees under the UP Tree Protection Act provisions, the reply stated such an enumeration was not be possible in the stretches where tree cutting was completed as plants and bushes were also cleared during the drive.

"In the future, once PWD finalises a revised road alignment with width of 15-20 metre, joint inspections will identify and enumerate any remaining trees to be felled. However, the total number of affected trees/plants should not exceed 1,12,722," it stated.  The UP tree act provisions did not apply to the reserved and protected forest land, the reply added.

"The land used for the construction of above-mentioned Kanwar Marg is a protected forest and the implementing agency has obtained in-principle approval from Government of India for Kanwar Marg Project. Thus, enumeration of trees as per the provisions of UP Tree Act 1976 was not carried out," it said.

Regarding the definition of trees, as asked by the tribunal in its previous order, the reply cited the Centre's Parivesh Portal, according to which trees were categorised based on girth size such as 0-30 cm, 31-60 cm, and more than 150 cm, and included provisions for also counting smaller plants and trees having a girth between zero and 30 cm.  "This ensures that all relevant vegetation is comprehensively accounted," the reply said.