27k trees to be cut for Agra-Lucknow expressway

Times of India: Agra: Thursday, January 29, 2015.

An RTI filed by a Greater Noida-based NGO, Social Action for Environment and Forest (SAFE), revealed that more than 27,000 trees would be axed for the construction of the 302.22 km Agra-Lucknow Greenfield expressway.

It also revealed that the nodal authority responsible for the project has already started construction but is yet to take the requisite clearance from the ministry of environment and forest.

A copy of RTI that was sent to TOI, revealed that 98.9 hectares of forest land will be cleared for the ambitious project by the Uttar Pradesh expressways industrial development authority (UPEIDA), in which a total of 27, 582 trees will be cut down.

According to sources, out of the 98.9 hectare of forest land, about 51.46% of forest cover falls under the Etawah zone, which is apparently a bastion of the state government.

Environmentalist and RTI activist, Vikrant Tongad, who runs SAFE said, "Till date the UPEIDA has not even applied for the forest clearance (FC), in order to chop down trees from 98.9 hectares of the forest land for the expressway."

"Apart from the FC, the nodal agency of the expressway development has also not taken clearance for the ground water extraction, which they would be using for the construction of road," he added.

An official document received by TOI revealed that the UPEIDA is going to use 17, 653.92 KLD (Kilo liters discharge) water per day, which they will extract both from the ground and surface water sources. A majority of the water is going to be utilized for curing of structures and sprinkling for dust suppression, which is 1,45,88,128 kilo liters per day, while only 4,500 kilo liters per day is going to be utilized for drinking purpose by the labourers.

When contacted, chief engineer of the Agra-Lucknow expressway project, Vishwas Deepak, said, "I'm not sure if the department concerned has taken clearance for the extraction of water."

Meanwhile, the project director, O P Gupta, who is responsible for getting forest clearance from MOE&F said, "We haven't applied for the FC, but soon a proposal would be sent to the ministry of environment and forest."