UP considers new route to spare 33% trees for project

The counsels for the state of Uttar Pradesh have informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the state is considering an alignment change for the remaining portion of the under construction 111km Kanwar Marg alongside the Upper Ganga Canal, as that would require the felling of only two-thirds of the originally proposed number of trees/shrubs.

- Peeyush Khandelwal

GHAZIABAD:

The tribunal is currently hearing the matter of the construction of the road, which passes through ecologically sensitive areas, after taking cognizance of a Hindustan Times report, dated February 1, 2024, about how the state government's forest department gave nod to fell about 112,722 trees and shrubs in the protected forests of three forest divisions - Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar - to construct two lanes of the road.

Environmentalists have claimed that the large-scale tree felling would severely impact the environment and the natural wildlife habitat in the region.