Kanwar Marg project: Green tribunal seeks fresh report to ascertain if trees beyond permissible limit were cut 

The main bench, headed by chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and consisting of judicial subordinate Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and adept subordinate A Senthil Vel, was proceeding the suo substance of wide histrion felling for the Kanwar Marg project, besides called Upper Ganga Canal Road Project, that volition walk done Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar.

The Uttar Pradesh authorities has projected to physique the roadworthy connected the close subdivision of the Upper Ganga canal from Murad Nagar to Purkazi and volition request 222.98 hectares of protected wood land.

The seat besides directed a associated committee it had constituted successful August to expedite its enquiry into whether amerciable and unnecessary histrion cutting happened for the projected road.

The associated committee was to ascertain answers to whether trees were chopped illegally, whether the task was feasible and whether the enactment truthful acold was done sticking to the permissible width of 15/20 metres. It was besides ordered to ascertain the project’s imaginable biology damage.

Prior to the proceeding connected Wednesday, the associated committee sought much clip to taxable its study and successful an interim report, it said that 17,607 trees person been chopped truthful far.

In October, the tribunal had directed Survey of India to transportation retired an aerial survey, utilizing drones, to find retired the grade of histrion screen mislaid wrong the past 1 twelvemonth connected the linear agelong of the projected roadworthy and if possible, taxable the fig of trees chopped successful the past 1 year. The Survey of India filed its study comparing outer images of the agelong from 2023 with drone images taken successful October.

However, the tribunal noted connected Wednesday that the examination of images did not pb to immoderate wide conclusions. It noted that the images of the agelong were of antithetic standard and resolution. “From the study of Survey of India, they could not constituent retired if immoderate histrion has been chopped beyond the width of 15-20 metres oregon the fig of trees cut,” the seat noted successful its order.

The counsel and officers of Survey of India submitted to the seat that they had requested the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for outer images of the roadworthy agelong from 2024. However, it could not beryllium obtained. The seat frankincense ordered the nationalist mapping bureau to get the images of 2024 from NRSC and record a caller study comparing the histrion felling.

The seat besides sought clarity from the Uttar Pradesh authorities connected whether its enumeration of trees to beryllium felled was based connected the UP Protection of Trees Act, 1976. While originally, it was stated that implicit 1.12 lakh trees volition beryllium chopped for the project, the UP authorities said that the fig stands astatine 33,776 trees.

“UP is directed to clarify whether the 33,776 trees calculated for felling was done successful accordance with provisions of the UP extortion of histrion enactment oregon not,” the seat ordered.

“The authorities volition record an affidavit of further main secretary, environment, intelligibly stating the fig of trees which would beryllium chopped successful the people of roadworthy construction,” the seat added successful its order.

During Wednesday’s hearing, advocator Akash Vashishtha, who was arguing connected behalf of intervenors, said that the tribunal should besides inquire the associated committee to wage heed to the hydrological value of the trees on the Upper Ganga canal. Vashishtha said that the canal provides h2o to the cardinal murphy farming loop of UP and nonaccomplishment of biodiversity volition hamper groundwater.