Dehradun: Residents of the Rajpur and Old Mussoorie Road area are up in arms against the Public Works Department’s (PWD) anticipated beautification of the stretch of Rajpur Road , ahead of Mussoorie Diversion leading to Sai temple, alleging that it will lead to felling of trees and spoil the atmosphere of the area. PWD has currently installed semi-permanent plastic dividers on this stretch. The residents allege that the installing of dividers is the administration’s first step towards the area’s degradation.“Rajpur is the only area in Dehradun which is still green and not riddled with encroachment. If the administration continues with their plan, soon even this area will be a patch of barren and encroached land like the rest of the city,” said Reenu Paul, founding president of Rajpur Community Initiative, a citizen’s collective.Notably, MDDA had initiated a similar ‘beautification drive’ at Rajpur Road near NIEPVD in 2017 which had been opposed by residents. The project was then curtailed.Paul added that “so-called beautification drives almost always lead to damage to the environment which is irreparable.”Another resident, Naresh Goyal, added: “Rajpur Road is a heritage road having cultural and ecological significance. The proposed work will damage it. The area has reserve forests and is also the source of catchment area of two main rivers for the city-- Rispana and Bindal. The stretch near Sai temple is the only one which has preserved the essence of how Doon used to be earlier, and we need to save it.”On their part, officials said that the dividers have been installed for “better traffic management.” “The dividers have been installed so that the drivers stay in their lanes. It will only help in better traffic flow,” PWD chief RC Agrawal said.When asked about the proposed beautification work, Agrawal said that the department is yet to take a decision on it.“The beautification work is not proposed yet. But if approved, we will do it without damaging trees and the protected forests,” he said.

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