TIWN
AGARTALA, July 13 (TIWN): The forest department’s decision to allow chop trees for road widening has upset green campaigners who say the department should have explored safe technology options instead. Their concerns relate to the forest department’s recent decision allowing the road construction department to chop trees to widen Udaipur - Sabroom road.
Officials said about 2404 trees and 1814 trees would be chopped at Santirbazaar and Sabroom sub division. According to green campaigners the department could have made use of the easily available tree transfer technology in which grown-up trees were scientifically uprooted and replanted at the desired site.
But, allowing tree chopping was a wrong decision as growing new saplings to compensate for the loss could hardly be a healthy replacement---because saplings would take years to become trees and till the environment damage would be continued.
However, the road construction department and the forest department have their reasons to justify the cutting of trees. They said unless the roads were widened, the increasing traffic density could not be accommodated in the city. They said that for every tree is fall down, the forest department had asked the road construction department to plant five new trees, in order to counter the environmental hazards.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on June 30 last laid the foundation for double laning of 48.36 km stretch between Agartala and Udaipur of National Highway 44.
National Highway Development Corporation Ltd has been asked to complete double laning work of Agartala-Udaipur and Udaipur-Sabroom (73.71 km) National Highway within two years.
The Centre has already awarded the work for Udaipur-Sabroom stretch in the last year and necessary fund has been released. About Rs 1,600 crore has been estimated for expansion of National Highway, along with pedestrian strips and drainage connecting southern most part of Tripura, which will be connected with Chittagong sea port through a bridge over River Feni.
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