Realigned Upper Ganga Canal road to spare trees: UP to NGT

The Uttar Pradesh government has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the realignment of the 11lkm Upper Ganga Canal road project has been approved and at least two months' time is required to receive approvals from the forest department.

- Peeyush Khandelwal

The tribunal is currently hearing the matter after taking cognizance of an HT report dated February 1, which revealed that the state forest department had allowed the felling of 112,722 trees and shrubs in protected forest areas across Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Muzaffarnagar divisions to construct two lanes of the proposed road.

During a hearing on July 16, the additional solicitor general (ASG) provided submissions to NGT. The court order was uploaded on July 17. "ASG has submitted that approval for realignment of the road has been done and forest clearance is awaited, which is likely to take one or two months, therefore, he has made a request for deferring the hearing for two months," the court said in the order.