1. Home
2. Jammu

Trees cut for road-widening loss to environment

Subodh Bhasin. Dated: 8/14/2018 11:59:15 AM

Subodh Bhasin
Jammu, Aug 13
Developing Infrastructure by construction and widening of roads is no doubt need of the hour but there are always question mark and debates regarding the cutting of trees which are consider4ed to be necessary for the environment to reduce the pollution levels. But before cutting of trees there should be arrangement so that trees can be relocated or new trees planted to replace them.
National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) which has begun the pre-construction work on the Rs 917 crore project regarding widening of the 30-km stretch of the Jammu-Akhnoor road. As many as of now thousand of trees have been chopped off and may more thousand of trees are to be chopped of in the future for widening of road
It is worthwhile to mention here that the stretch is a part of NH-144A, Jammu-Akhnoor road and is a vital defence road and among the busiest roads of the state, which connects Rajouri and Poonch to the rest of the country and traffic jam remain a persistent problem for the commuters. The trees to be chopped off are eucalyptus and poplar which have been identified for the widening of the 30-km stretch of the Jammu-Akhnoor road.
Talking to young bites correspondent Advocate Dinesh Singh Jamwal said that although it is necessary to chop off the tress for widening of road but authorities should take into cognizance that the green gold loss should be minimized.
He further added that the authorities must have future plan to plant more plants as compared to the number of trees chopped off so that the loss to the environment can be meted out in the future after the completion of the project.
Talking to Young Bites Rahul Jojra said that how can they reduce pollution if they cut so many trees? This is being done to accommodate more polluting cars on the roads. Removing trees is no solution for increasing pollution levels.