12 hours ago
- General
- New Indian Express
Plant 4,770 saplings for 470 trees felled for road project: NGT orders SH Department
COIMBATORE: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the State Highways Department to plant 4,770 tree saplings as replacement for the 470 trees that were felled recently as part of the widening of the Avinashi-Nariyampalli stretch of the Avinashi to Mettupalayam road.
Priority should be given to native species such as Neem, Tamarind etc, ordered the tribunal.
"The State Highways Department shall ensure the full execution of the compensatory plantation plan (4,770 saplings) within the next two planting seasons with priority to native species such as Neem, Tamarind, Poongan, Kadamba, Naval, Mahilam alongside other resilient species as appropriate. The State Highways Department shall undertake the responsibility for maintaining all saplings for a period of at least five years or till they grow to a considerable size," the bench said.
The tasks include their watering, fencing and replacing any saplings that fail.
The tribunal bench comprising judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati took up the matter based on a suo motu cognizance of a news report on the felling of trees for the Phase-1 of the road-widening project.
