SC allows road widening to go ahead in reserve

It also allowed for construction of minor bridges on the road for movement of wildlife. Shrushti Paryavaran Mandal, an NGO, had appealed against the order in the Supreme Court.

The top court order comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks that the judiciary must take tough calls as per the law that may be met with opposition from “five-star activists”. “We will have to think whether these days five-star activist(s) are driving the whole judiciary? Whether an effort is on to drive the judiciary through scare-mongering,” he had said at a conference of chief justices and chief ministers on April 5.

According to the NGO, widening the road would affect more than 49 hectares of forest land and would lead to felling of a large number of trees. Its counsel Sanjay Parekh told the Supreme Court that his client was not against development but wanted procedures and safeguards to be followed before the NHAI is allowed to tinker with forest land.

The Supreme Court bench reminded him that the Bombay high court had ordered the NHAI to pay `4.97 crore for compulsory afforestation. “The road has been in existence for 100 years. It’s being widened and the NHAI has been asked to pay. We see no reason to interfere with the HC order,” the court said dismissing the NGO’s appeal.

It, however, allowed the petitioner to move the National Green Tribunal (NGT).