3 months ago
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Even earlier the ink dried connected the historical bid by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) providing reprieve to the banyans connected National Highway (NH)-163 betwixt Moinabad and Manneguda, famously known arsenic Chevella Banyans, the axe has fallen connected trees of the aforesaid taxon connected NH different agelong successful Telangana.
Several banyan trees, aged implicit 100 years, person been axed connected the National Highway 563 betwixt Jagtial and Karimnagar successful the past fewer days, eyewitnesses say.
Photographs shared by travellers connected the roadworthy showed astatine slightest 5 trees hacked astatine antithetic levels. A fewer trunks person been axed completely, and a fewer others to the middle. Some different trees showed indiscriminate pruning, with ample branches lopped disconnected on with the lush greenish canopy. Banyans with immense trunks and sizeable maturation of prop roots formed important information of the trees axed.
Charla Pavan, a predominant traveller, says that the roadworthy has astatine slightest 50 banyan trees aged implicit 100 years aged connected some sides. The axed ones are person to Kondagattu, which is simply a celebrated temple municipality of Telangana person to Jagtial district.
While it is yet to beryllium established who resorted to this act, it is reported that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has cleared a task for four-laning of the road betwixt Jagtial and Karimnagar astatine a outgo of ₹2,484 crore. It is portion of 4 nationalist highways projects approved for the State, astatine an expenditure of ₹10,034 crore.
Banyans are a protected taxon nether the WALTA (Water, Land and Trees) Act, 2002, and to region them adjacent extracurricular the forests, support from the Forest Department is mandatory. Asked for his version, District Forest Officer of Jagtial, M.Ravi Prasad said helium was not alert of the histrion felling.
“Should battles beryllium waged for extortion of trees each clip they determine to grow a highway? Shouldn’t they person learnt their acquisition from the lawsuit of Chevella banyans? How thoughtless is it to axe specified ecologically important species,” said Uday Krishna Peddireddi of Vata Foundation.
Approval for felling of much than 900 banyan trees connected Moinabad-Manneguda agelong successful 2017 for enlargement of NH 163 led to a citizens’ question and agelong drawn ineligible conflict astatine the NGT, which reached its culmination precise recently, with a compromise betwixt NHAI and the petitioners. As per the compromise, the NHAI agreed for retention of bulk trees, and translocation of the remainder to the roadworthy margins.
“Unless determination is simply a authorities argumentation successful spot to guarantee histrion extortion successful narration to specified projects, histrion felling volition proceed to beryllium the archetypal enactment for roadworthy expansion,” says Pranay Juvvadi, 1 of the petitioners to NGT.
