Rejecting allegations made by a Forest Survey of India (FSI) officer in a report, the Uttar Pradesh authorities has submitted to the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT) that it discovered no proof of tree felling outdoors the permitted 20-m proper of manner for Kanwar Marg, being constructed between Murad Nagar and Purkaji close to Uttarakhand.
The NGT’s principal bench is suo motu analyzing the case of alleged large-scale tree felling for the 111-km-long Kanwar Marg. In February, it ordered the UP chief secretary to determine if the FSI joint director’s allegations, submitted to the tribunal, had been true. The UP authorities filed its affidavit on Might 21.
“Primarily based on the on-site bodily inspection, previous satellite tv for pc Google pictures, and the cross-section supplied by the general public works division, an intensive investigation was carried out at a complete of 13 factors. Primarily based on accessible proof, it may be said that no proof of tree felling outdoors the proposed 20-metre proper of manner was discovered at any of the inspected areas,” the UP authorities’s affidavit said.
A website inspection report hooked up with the affidavit said that the FSI joint director, Meera Iyer, had made an error in measuring the 20-m width. “Whereas measuring the width on the premise of Google Earth information by the Joint Director of Forest Survey of India, it seems that the minimal 7.5 meters of land left from the toe of the irrigation division’s dole has additionally been included within the width measurement,” the report stated.
A dole or dowel is constructed alongside canals for security, normally between the service highway and the sting of the canal, making a raised barrier.
Lalit Kumar Verma, Extra Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Lucknow, inspected the highway building website alongside the Ganga canal in April together with officers from the UP public works division and irrigation division.
NGT’s joint committee probe
The NGT earlier constituted a joint committee to inquire into, amongst different issues, whether or not timber had been felled past the 20-m stretch, as permitted within the in-principle approval granted for Kanwar Marg. Meera Iyer, who was a part of the committee, filed a separate response in February, stating that the FSI had recognized a number of areas the place tree felling had exceeded 20 m. The FSI officer additionally hooked up images to point the distinction in stretches between 2022 and 2024, utilizing satellite tv for pc pictures, and submitted that timber had been reduce past 20 m.
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The proposed 111-km-long highway is being constructed alongside the suitable department of the Higher Ganga canal from Murad Nagar to Purkaji close to Uttarakhand. The UP authorities is constructing the highway on the grounds that it’ll not solely facilitate the motion of Kanwar pilgrims but in addition vehicular motion. A stretch of 62 km has already been constructed and 17,607 timber have been axed for the stretch, as per the UP authorities’s submissions.
