14,114 trees being axed in Fazilka for road widening

As many as 14,114 trees spread over nearly 63 hectares of forestland are being axed for the four-laning of the Abohar-Fazilka and Abohar bypass roads under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Notably, Fazilka district has only 1.98 per cent of its total area under forest cover, one of the lowest in the state.

As per the approval granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the non-forest land along National Highway-54 from Amritsar to Pathankot has been accepted as accredited compensatory afforestation (ACA) and notified as protected forest. However, this decision has upset the environmental crusaders, who say Fazilka district is already turning dry.

They have demanded that the afforestation too should have been done within the district to maintain the ecological balance. “Rather than doing something positive to drastically change the picture, the departments concerned are turning the district dry gradually. The officers should have laid stress on afforestation in this district,” said Sukhmander Singh, a farmer-cum-environmental crusader.

Advocate Mohit Setia, a kinnow orchardist from Abohar, said, “Earlier, widening of the Abohar-Sri Ganganagar highway has already impacted kinnow orchards, as a large number of trees were uprooted along the road. Now, the same may happen to orchards along the Fazilka-Abohar highway.”

According to documents in possession of The Tribune, 8,841 mesquite, 2,531 eucalyptus, 1,038 dreak, 944 kikar, 423 shisham, 330 mulberry, and seven other trees are being felled. The tree-cutting work began on Wednesday.

Amritpal Singh Brar, Divisional Forest Officer, Muktsar, said, “The tree axing work is being done after obtaining all necessary approvals. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), has paid the requisite charges. Since there is no forest land available for afforestation in Fazilka, land along the Amritsar-Pathankot national highway has been identified for the purpose. Nearly 65,000 saplings will be planted against the axing of trees in Fazilka district.”

Punjab