669 trees being felled to widen Karnal road

Tribune News Service

Karnal, January 22

The Forest Department has started felling 419 trees and 250 other plant varieties for the widening of 1.5-km stretch between ITI Chowk and Maharaja Agrasen Chowk here. The PWD will start the work to widen the road very soon.

Vijender Singh, District Forest Officer (DFO), said the work to widen the road started following environmental clearance fromthe Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

To compensate for the loss of green cover, the Forest Department would plant 4,500 saplings at Shekhpura village. The DFO said the PWD had deposited the money for trees after which the work to axe them began.

The CM Camp Office, residences of several judges, DSPs and other officials are located on this stretch of the road. Its widening has long been awaited as the area witnessed traffic congestion due to protests and demonstrations ever since the shifting of CM Camp Office here.

“The widening of the road will give us relief,” said Dharam Singh of Basant Vihar here. An official said that the road was being widened as part of a beautification plan, adding that all the entry roads to the city would be broadened.

The work to widen the NDRI-Baldi bypass is under way. The CM laid the foundation stone of the Karnal-Kunjpura road widening project on December 30. The project would be completed at a cost of Rs 35.83 crore. The CM had also announced to widen the Karnal-Meerut road recently at a cost of Rs 67 crore.