Delhi's Green Cover In Danger! More Than 5,000 Trees Can Be Cut To Build National Highway

More than 5,100 trees can be cut for the construction of NH in Delhi. 191 trees will be transplanted.

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New Delhi: For the construction of a six-lane highway in East and North-East Delhi, 5,104 trees covering more than 14 hectares of forest land are proposed to be cut and replanted.

According to officials, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has sought permission from the Delhi Forest Department for the development of a 14.75 km stretch of the six-lane Delhi-Saharanpur highway.

A forest department official said there are a total of 5,104 trees located between Akshardham NH-9 Junction and the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.

According to information provided by the forest department, the species of these trees include Sheesham, Mulberry, Peepal, Champa, Ashok, Subabul, Neem, Nilgiri, Keekar, Ber, Jamun, and Gular.

In this regard, the official said, "An inspection was carried out last month. The user agency had left out some trees during the counting and now they have been asked to consider those trees as well.

The forest official said NHAI has not yet provided land for compensatory afforestation. The Rs 1500 crore project is part of the first phase of the Bharatmala project, the country's second-largest highway construction program. Under this, 50,000 kilometers of roads will be constructed.

The central agency has sought permission for 0.35 hectares of forest land for the construction of a six-lane highway from NH-148 DND Maharani Bagh to the Jaitpur-Pusta Road section. A total of 191 trees including Beri, Neem, Peepal, Mulberry, and Siris are proposed to be shifted during the construction work.