Traffic jams in the tunnel on the NH-72A near Dat Kali temple could be resolved in the future. The State Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal said that 0.52 hectare forest land area has been conditionally transferred to the Public Works Department for non-forestry works to facilitate construction of a double-lane tunnel on the national highway near Dat Kali temple.
Agarwal said the 0.52 hectare forest land will be conditionally transferred to PWD for construction of the new tunnel on NH-72A (new NH-307) stretch from the 33 kilometre milestone to the 34 kilometre milestone near Dat Kali temple. He further informed that following approval for this land transfer received from the Ministry of Environment and Forests on February 4 this year, the Governor of Uttarakhand has accorded his approval as per the conditions and restrictions of Forest Conservation Act 1980.
As per this approval, there will be no change in the present legal status of the forest land. The executing agency will use it only for the intended purpose. Permission will be sought from the competent official of the Forest Department before start of the construction work. Referring to the restrictions to be observed by the executing agency, the Forest minister said that in case any of the conditions set in the proposal or unsatisfactory observance of these, the Government of India will reserve the right to cancel the approval for this work.
It should be mentioned here that traffic jams on the tunnel near Dat Kali temple are known to cause major inconvenience frequently. The construction of another tunnel is expected to facilitate smoother flow of traffic on this stretch of the 45 kilometre long NH 72 A linking Dehradun with Chhutmalpur on NH 73 in Uttar Pradesh. The NH 72 A sustains dense traffic to Saharanpur in neighbouring UP and to Delhi.