Kanwar route: NGT seeks satellite images of land where trees were cut

GHAZIABAD: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought satellite images of patches of land where trees have been cut for the kanwar corridor.

The 111km corridor will be built along the upper Ganga canal and will connect Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar with Purkazi on the Uttarakhand border, passing through Meerut and Muzaffarnagar. The Centre gave its permission to cut 1.1 lakh trees for the road project.

In Feb, the NGT took suo motu cognisance of the Union environment ministry’s nod amid allegations that the actual number of trees and shrubs cut for the corridor was way more than what was permitted.

“To ascertain the actual position, we direct the Survey of India to submit satellite images of the stretch under consideration, showing the extent of trees that have been cut on both sides of the canal,” read the NGT order dated July 8.

The primary bench of the NGT has made UP and Uttarakhand govts respondents in the legal proceedings. It has also allowed two “interveners”. An MLA from Meerut and others, including former councillor Rajendra Tyagi from Ghaziabad and environmentalists Satendra Singh and Vikrant Tongad have sought to become party to the case.

UP govt has told the NGT that although the road was proposed to be widened to 20m in the project report, they are planning to reduce it to 15m in certain sections to reduce the number of trees to be cut. The interveners have questioned this argument, saying the number of trees cut were already more than those allowed.

“When a 5-7m wide road already exists, what is the need of widening it to 15m? If you look at the videos and pictures, you will see that two vehicles can easily pass each other on the existing stretch. There is also a one-metre wide dirt stretch on both sides of the road,” said Singh, one of the interveners.

The court, according to Singh, also sought to know why the road was being expanded to four lanes in UP but narrows down to one in Uttarakhand.

“We direct that the State authorities will ensure that no illegal felling of trees takes place beyond the permission/decision of 20/15 metres width of the proposed road. The proposed interveners are permitted to file additional documents in support of their plea,” the NGT order stated. The next hearing is scheduled for July 25.

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