The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has planted around 1.73 lakh saplings in Assam throughout the whole East-West route from Siliguri to Silchar in 2022, stated NHAI.
The NHAI will take down approximately 2,500 trees along the Guwahati bypass in order to expand it to a six-lane highway with two-lane service lanes on each side.
Assam’s Forest Department has already begun cutting down trees.
This has sparked outrage among concerned locals, who have spoken out against the loss of green space owing to infrastructure development.
Locals have claimed that many enormous trees, such as Gulmohar and Laburnum, will be destroyed, NHAI officials have stated that there are no old giant trees and that all are little plants. “We do not consider it a tree until it grows to 300 mm,” an official explained.
According to the Forest Department, the NHAI has the ‘Right of Way (ROW)’ to cut trees if necessary, and the authority has alternative plantation projects, the cost of which is normally included in the project cost.
