The conditions that were agreed upon for cutting trees for the four-laning of the National Highway 66 bypass from Kazhakuttam to Mukkola are not being followed on the ground. Trees that were numbered and marked with yellow paint during the initial numbering exercise were not supposed to be cut as per the agreement.
However, a few such trees were cut in recent days near the Eenchakkal junction. Members of the NGO Tree Walk say that the exact number of trees with yellow marking that were cut is not known.
“I noticed these trees two days ago. Some of them were cut right at the point where the number was marked, perhaps to prevent identification,” says Paul Calvert, a member of Tree Walk.
Violation of agreement
According to K. Udayan Nair, Deputy Ranger, Social Forestry Wing, felling of yellow-marked trees is a clear violation of the agreement that the Tree Monitoring Committee had with the NH authorities.
“If the agreement is breached, action will be taken. We will visit the area to ascertain whether such violation has taken place,” he said.
The allegations have been brushed aside by officials of the National Highways Authority of India. “There is no reason to chop trees marked with yellow paint. We have complied with the decision taken prior to the project’s launch on retaining trees along the median,” a senior official said.
Safety hazards
He cautioned that some of the trees that were being retained posed safety hazards to motorists.
According to him, a motorcyclist had a narrow escape two months ago when a retained tree had fallen on his vehicle after he had parked it.
With the issue of felling trees for the project running into rough weather, the government had intervened to organise a joint inspection with NHAI officials and environmentalists. It had then been decided to fell around 4,200 trees from Kazhakuttam to Mukkola. As many as 491 trees that stood along the median were to be retained, besides those on the utility corridor.
Study of ecological value
“Tree Walk has done a study of the ecological value of the 25-30 species of trees that have been cut along the highway. We have requested the Chief Secretary to involve us in compensatory afforestation, including monitoring and special selection,” says Anitha Sharma of Tree Walk.
