Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Assam government informed the Gauhati High Court that there shall be no felling of trees in the construction of the proposed Guwahati Ring Road.
This public interest litigation (PIL) aims to protect the environment.
In principle, the petitioners do not question the Guwahati Ring Road project, a massive 121-kilometre highway project around the city of Guwahati, with the cost of around Rs. 6000 crore, to be constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The necessity for traffic management is not being questioned by the petitioners, but, according to them, the road which has been carved out for construction of the bypass allegedly cuts through the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary and the surrounding eco-sensitive zone. While the necessity of the construction of the ring road cannot be denied, at the same time, the importance of preserving the sanctuary can be assessed from the fact that the area is home to elephants, gibbons, leopards, pangolins and other animals. The area also covers other forests and the elephant corridor in the vicinity.
The major concern of the petitioners is that, according to the information they have, the mandatory forest clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (hereinafter referred to as the “Act of 1980”) has not been granted by the Central Government. However, the Divisional Forest Officer, Guwahati Wildlife Division, has already issued an e-tender for selecting a contractor for felling trees inside the sanctuary. Such action is dubbed ‘post-haste’, and if it is allowed to go through, it will cause irreparable damage before any proper scrutiny by the authority concerned is made.
During the hearing, Debojit Borkakati, advocate for NHAI, seeks some more time to file an additional affidavit intimating the court that all the clearances have been taken before proceeding ahead with the construction of the Guwahati Ring Road as well as a report of the comprehensive study by the Wildlife Institute of India or any other specialized agency to assess the impact of the project, particularly with respect to the movement corridor of elephants.
Girin Pegu, central government counsel, shall also file a clear affidavit stating whether all the prerequisites for starting the project have been met and, if not, the reasons for the same and by what time such conditions shall be fulfilled.
In the meantime, P.N. Goswami, additional advocate general for Assam, submits that no trees shall be felled.’
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