After trees felled for Sohna Rd, green revival in far-flung areas

  • | Monday | 25th March, 2019

“Authorities are mindlessly cutting down 10,000 trees on Sohna road in the name of development. Gurgaon: Compensatory afforestation in lieu of 9,650 trees felled for the proposed widening of Sohna road will be carried out in far-flung areas such as Mewat and Pinjore , according to an RTI response by the forest department.RTI applicant Guneet Singh, a resident of a township along Sohna road, said that the areas were 25-250 kilometres away from Sohna Road. If authorities plan compensatory afforestation 250 kilometres away, they should make provisions for residents to move there too,” said Deepika Jain, a resident of a township along Sohna road. Why can’t authorities reclaim the rest from encroachments and plan compensatory afforestation within the city? Also, trees can be easily transplanted a few feet away from the original spots,” said Singh, an activist with 3min.life, an NGO working on air pollution issues.

Gurgaon: Compensatory afforestation in lieu of 9,650 trees felled for the proposed widening of Sohna road will be carried out in far-flung areas such as Mewat and Pinjore , according to an RTI response by the forest department.RTI applicant Guneet Singh, a resident of a township along Sohna road, said that the areas were 25-250 kilometres away from Sohna Road. These include Nangal Mubarikpur (60kms), Reegarh (80kms), Agaon (80kms), Mahu (150kms), Jhimrawat (70kms), Jhir (79kms) in Mewat and Morni-Pinjore (250kms).Other than the felling of 9,650 trees and 4,984 plants, the project which includes widening of a 20km stretch from Subhash Chowk to Sohna and construction of a flyover involves diversion of 52.1260 hectares. “Authorities are mindlessly cutting down 10,000 trees on Sohna road in the name of development. Meanwhile, compensatory afforestation is being planned in Mewat and Morni . Half of the green belt in the city is being destroyed. Why can’t authorities reclaim the rest from encroachments and plan compensatory afforestation within the city? Also, trees can be easily transplanted a few feet away from the original spots,” said Singh, an activist with 3min.life, an NGO working on air pollution issues. The RTI response has also said that no study has been carried out to estimate the impact of air and noise pollution on housing societies close to Sohna road after completion of the project. “Authorities didn’t carry out any study to estimate pollution in the area after destruction of the green belt, which is quite shocking. Since tree felling started on Sohna road, we have been witnessing an increase in air and noise pollution,” said Singh.National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) took over Sohna road from Public Works Department (PWD) in 2015 and built NH248-A between Rajiv Chowk (on NH8) and Alwar in Rajasthan. Recently, the environment ministry gave it permission to fell trees on the 20km-long green belt in Sohna.Residents expressed concerns over lack of planning to increase green canopy in the surrounding areas. “While we understand that infrastructural development is important, authorities should plant trees close to the road. These trees clean the air. If authorities plan compensatory afforestation 250 kilometres away, they should make provisions for residents to move there too,” said Deepika Jain, a resident of a township along Sohna road.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Latest Gurgaon headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles