‘No trees to be cut for Char Dham road’
DEHRADUN: Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said even as the Supreme Court has allowed the government to go ahead with the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road construction, the government has decided not to cut any trees for the strategically important project.
He said instead all the trees will be transplanted, like they have done in Delhi where they have transplanted over 12,000 trees during the construction of Dwarika Expressway. He said in case the transplantation fails, the government will plant five trees for each such tree.
The minister said nearly 1,000 contractors were carrying out such transplantation of the trees in the country. He urged the youth in Uttarakhand to come forward to become such contractors in the state and carry out transplantation project.
Gadkari said the 825 km long Char Dham road project is worth ₹12,500 crore, of which 563 km have been constructed so far.
When the case was pending before the SC, Gadkari said he approached late Gen Bipin Rawat as this road was very important from defence point of view. “Today, I am remembering late Gen Bipin Rawat, whom I approached on this issue, when the work on the project was halted. I told him how our trucks will reach border areas in the state. There are concerns regarding width of the road. Ecology and environment are also important. We have border with China here. China is developing infrastructure on the other side. I also raised the issue with Gen VK Singh and the assistant of national security advisor. They filed an affidavit from the perspective of defence authorities. The SC has formed a new committee in the matter,” he said.
In December last year, the Supreme Court allowed the Centre to construct the all-weather roads with 10-metre tarred surfaces as opposed to the 5.5-metrewide road ordered earlier as a part of the Char Dham project.
Noted environmentalist Ashok Chopra, who has been heading the SC-appointed high power committee on Char Dharm project, said Gadkari, it seems, is not well-versed with the subject of trees and forest cover. “What have been cut are not just trees, they are forests, and wild swathes of forests have destroyed. Many of them were very important for stabilizing the fragile slopes. They cannot be replaced by transplanting trees elsewhere. And these trees, where they are located, have a role to play there.”
Hemant Dhayani, a member of SC-appointed committee, said on one side, they are talking of cutting trees and on other side, they were pushing nearly 12-metre-wide double lane paved shoulder road standard in road project, which the Centre in 2018 stated that the standard was not suitable for hill roads.