Gurugram: Once again there can be a scenario in Gurugram when the price of development will be paid by the trees that abound the Millennium city. There is a possibility that over 9,000 trees may be felled at Gurugram's Sohna Road as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is all set to begin the works of revamping the infrastructure of the busy route. The revamping of infrastructure at Sohna Road is being seen as a major step towards developing the Delhi-Mumbai corridor. The NHAI will widen the roads and also build an elevated flyover.
Sources indicate that the permission of axing the trees have been given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and a substantial number of trees have already been felled. To compensate for the loss, there are plans to plant one lakh trees however there is confusion on route where the trees wiil be planted. It will not be easy for the public agency to go ahead and cut such a large number of trees as certain environmental organisations have warned of going to National Green Tribunal over the matter.
Earlier also, the environmentalists held the unique protest of Chipko movement in order to save 1,300 trees from being cut for the construction of the underpass at the Atul Kataria Chowk. After great difficulty, however, the agency was able to go ahead with the projects.
Lakhs of trees over the years have been felled in Gurugram as the city has expanded to most favoured residential and commercial cities in the country. More than 6,000 trees have been felled along the Delhi Jaipur Highway where there is the construction of flyovers and underpasses at the busy traffic intersections.
Earlier also, thousands of trees were cut when NH-8 was being converted into an expressway way back in year 2005. According to the survey, Gurugram that was recently described as the most polluted city in the world by Green Peace, has a green cover of just eight percent.
Ironically, Delhi with 10 times more population than Gurugram has a much higher green cover than its neighbour. In late 80's and mid 90's, most of the people migrated from Delhi to Gurugram because of vast open and green spaces in Gurugram.