State told to minimise axing of trees to widen highway

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, October 12

The Environment Ministry, Forest and Climate Change, New Delhi, has asked the Principal Secretary (Forests), Punjab, to consider some suggestions of an NGO, which has suggested the authorities to minimise the axing of trees during the widening of the Bathinda-Dabwali Road, NH 54.

Shrawan Kumar Verma, Deputy Inspector General of Forests in the Ministry of Environment has written to the Principal Secretary (Forests) this week after Mangat Arora, an advocate, and his associates in Faridkot had written a letter to the ministry suggesting ways in which a large number full-grown old trees could be saved during the widening of the road.

Expressing apprehension that thousands of fully grown trees might be axed on the Bathinda-Dabwali road while widening, they had approached the Supreme Court and various departments of the Centre and state government in August this year.

“Usually when the government starts the widening of roads, thousands of fully grown trees are axed on both sides of the roads. This can be avoided if the government widens the roads only on its one side so that trees on the other side can be saved. In the urban area of the country, we are already inhaling much polluted air, which is drastically reducing our life span,” reads the complaint, sent by Arora and his associates.

Efforts to save trees started after the process to acquire land for the four-laning of the Bathinda-Dabwali Road, NH-54, started on June 28.

“We have already lost over one lakh fully grown trees in the four-laning of the Pathankot-Bathinda road. Now, thousands of other trees will also be axed while widening the Bathinda-Dabwali Road,” said Arora.

“Our efforts are aimed at saving 50 per cent of the fully grown trees at the time of widening of roads and also cutting half litigation on land acquisition disputes,” reads the petition, sent to the SC and various government departments.

Arora in his complaint said, “At present, the Bathinda-Dabwali road is 90-foot wide and after acquisition of the land on both sides of the road, the government has a proposal to widen the road to 200 feet, increasing 55 feet on both sides of the existing road. For this, the government has to acquire land on both sides of the road and trees on both sides will be axed. Instead of widening 55 feet each on both sides of the road and acquiring the land on both sides for this purpose, it is preferable if the road is widened all 110 feet on the one side.”