NGT issues notice to Punjab Govt to cut down more than 7000 trees to stretch Sirhind-Patiala road
PTC News Desk: In a significant environmental development, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued a notice to the Punjab Government concerning its plan to cut 7,392 fully grown trees and approximately 20,000 mid-sized trees including the shrubs to implement the four-laning project of Major District Road Sirhind-Patiala Road of 22 Km.
The chief secretary, the principal chief conservator of forests, the public works department, the district forest officer, and the deputy commissioner of Patiala received the notices. This action follows a petition filed by Kapil and other members of the Public Action Committee based in Ludhiana. The petitioners argued that the authorities should have considered transplanting the trees instead.
The applicant argues that tree transplantation should have been considered, as compensatory afforestation is being proposed in Hoshiarpur, 180 km away, and Ropar, 75 km away, due to insufficient space for planting along the roadside after road widening.
Meanwhile, forest authorities have announced plans to plant over 60,000 saplings in Hoshiarpur and Ropar to compensate for the tree loss. However, environmentalists are dissatisfied with this approach, given that the state's forest cover is just 3.67 percent of its total area, far below the national target of 33 percent.
Kapil said, “We have said in our plea that highways shouldn’t be looked upon merely as a means of transportation but as a part and parcel of the environmental and socio-economic milieu. Moreover, the plantation has been proposed in Hoshiarpur, 180 km away, and Ropar, 75 km away from where the trees are being felled.”
- With inputs from agencies
