Tree felling begins at Kazhakkoottam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has begun axing of trees to facilitate widening of Kazhakkoottam-Mukkola stretch. The forest department has recently given consent to cut around 1,100 trees on 11km stretch starting from Kazhakkoottam. The NHAI cut around 40 trees in 400m stretch till Infosys on Tuesday.
Based on the request of NHAI, the contractor - Hyderabad-based KNR Construction - has remitted Rs 18 lakh, excluding VAT and forest development tax, to the treasury for cutting the trees.The amount was paid by the contractor in order to avoid delay in auction of trees.
The NHAI is planning to complete tree felling in 15 days. However, sources said that the time required for cutting trees could be assessed only after two days.
Meanwhile, the forest department has started assessment of estimate of trees on the next 10km stretch.
Around 4,200 trees are expected to be axed for widening the road in 45 metres. As many as 491 trees will be retained on the median. Trees will be retained near service corridor too.
As a compensation for felling 4,200 trees, the social forestry department will plant around 40,000 saplings on 35 acres on the Sainik School campus, 10 acres near Kariavattom stadium and 5 acres on Kariavattom University campus.
Meanwhile, organizations such as Tree Walk has demanded that there must be a monitoring agency to ensure that the NHAI and forest department execute their promise.