How many trees were cut to make the Kanwar route… give satellite images, NGT seeks information

New Delhi : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Survey of India to file satellite images of the Upper Ganga Canal area to ascertain the number of trees felled for road construction for the Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh. As part of the yatra, pilgrims visit Haridwar in Uttarakhand to collect water from the Ganga river during the month of Sawan, which begins on July 22. They then bring it back to offer at Shiva temples.

No illegal cutting of trees

The tribunal directed authorities in Uttar Pradesh to ensure that there is no illegal felling of trees. The NGT was hearing a case related to felling of over one lakh trees in protected forest area in three forest divisions of Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar for construction of a two-lane 111-km-long Kanwar Marg from Muradnagar (Ghaziabad district) to Purkaji (Muzaffarnagar district) near the Uttarakhand border.

They should have told on the first day itself that LG had ordered to cut trees in Ridge, the court gave this order to DDA and Delhi government

Permission was given to cut 1.12 lakh trees

The tribunal had initiated the suo motu case based on a newspaper report which revealed that the Uttar Pradesh government had given permission to cut 1.12 lakh trees for a road along the Upper Ganga Canal. Later, three people had filed an application. A three-member bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava looked into the allegations.

‘Does Delhi LG consider himself a court?’ Even the Supreme Court got angry when trees were cut without permission

The order was given on 8 July

The assistant advocate general and additional advocate general of Uttar Pradesh said that an attempt was made to minimize the felling of trees by reducing the width of the road at some places. In its order passed on July 8, the bench said that to ascertain the true position, we direct the Survey of India to file satellite images showing the number of trees felled on both sides of the canal.