The National Green Tribunal has rapped the Environment Ministry and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for cutting trees for widening of Rampur-Rudrapur-Kathgodam section of NH-87, which connects Uttar Pradesh with Uttarakhand, and restrained them from tree chopping any further.
This was in view of the recent forest fire in Uttarakhand and that cutting fully grown trees for the said project further of four laning would further make serious impact on the environment.
The NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed, “There shall be no tree felling on the stretch of NH-87 indicated in the application without following due process of law.” The direction came in the wake of hearing a plea by NGO Friends which had alleged that large scale cutting of trees has been carried out by NHAI for widening of NH-87.
The plea pointed out that massive felling of trees for widening of NH-87 is a matter of serious concern especially when incidents of forest fire in Uttarakhand have already ruined more than 2600 hectares of forest area and have devastated the ecosystem of the state and made grave impact on the environment. Hence, in view of the recent forest fire in Uttarakhand, now cutting many thousands of fully grown trees for the said project of four laning of Rampur-Rudrapur-Kathgodam stretch of NH-87 would further have serious impact on the environment, the plea said.
The NGO said about 55 hectares of forest area has been diverted in Uttar Pradesh and about 60 hectares of the same in Uttarakhand axed from crucial corridors to wildlife.