Dehradun-Delhi corridor: NGT appoints Expert Committee, directs steps for wildlife protection

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday appointed an independent twelve-member Expert Committee in regards to diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes and cutting of trees for widening and elevating corridor construction for a part of NH 72A between Dehradun and Delhi.

The bench headed by NGT Chief Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel on Wednesday passed an order stating, "we appoint an independent twelve-member Expert Committee to be headed by Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand. The Committee may meet within two weeks to take stock of the situation and plan a further course of action. The Committee may thereafter meet at least once in a month or at such earlier intervals as found necessary".

The bench further said, "We further direct that additional compensatory afforestation may be undertaken by NHAI through concerned Forest Departments on 10 ha of land each in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, adjoining the stretch in question, preferably in a more degraded area. NHAI may also deposit a sum of Rs 1 crore over and above the EMP with FRI, Dehradun in a separate account for research of Sal regeneration, in collaboration with Forest Departments of Uttarakhand and UP and any other institution, as may be found necessary".

Adequate provision may be made for mitigation measures for the protection of wildlife in case funds allocated for the purpose are found inadequate by the Committee. Steps to be monitored will also include cordoning of elevated roads and other ecological sensitive stretches with proper barriers to absorb light and noise, fitting of cameras at strategic locations to monitor the protection of wildlife movement and their habitats, mechanism for rescuing animals in case of any accidents, awareness for care and protection of wildlife, NGT added in order.

We find it difficult to hold that there is no application of mind in appraisal by the MoEF&CC in granting FC. Once the project is held to be duly appraised, stage II/tree felling clearance are consequential. We may, however, observe that for the sake of transparency, stage II clearance/tree cutting permission must be prompt after stage I and it must be uploaded on the website forthwith. Even while upholding FC clearance, we find it necessary that mitigation measures are effectively implemented and monitored on the ground by the NHAI and the same are overseen by an independent mechanism, NGT noted.

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of multiple projects worth around Rs. 18,000 crore including Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor on December 4, 2021, in Dehradun.

According to the NHAI, Delhi Dehradun Highway including NH-72A is an important highway connecting Delhi, Haryana and Western UP to Dehradun and higher reaches of Himalayas through Dehradun. Hence, the capacity augmentation of this highway is not only important for connecting the State Capital of Uttarakhand with the National Capital but is also vital for Strategic defence purposes for timely and seamless movement of Army/ warheads to higher reaches of the Himalayas in Country Northern border.

The present stretch carries traffic more than 20,000 equivalent passenger car units (PCUs) per day which is much beyond the 2-lane capacity of 10500 PCU, necessitating urgent up-gradation of highway capacity.

As a result, the travel time between the two cities on the existing Highway (NH-72A) currently is 6-7 hours in the Non-Peak Hours and more than 8 hours during the Peak Hours. The average travelling time between Ganeshpur to Dehradun (20.7KM Stretch) is 45 - 60 mins during Tourist/Yatra season, which extends to 2 hours leading to frequent traffic jams, resulting in a significant increase in Air & Sound pollution in the area and also safety hazards to road users.

Longer Travel time of vehicles in forest zone means a longer time of disturbance to wildlife also. Another major reason necessitating the development of the project site is the poor geometrics of the existing road which leads to the occurrence of road accidents in this stretch.

( With inputs from ANI )