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DEHRADUN: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), while hearing a petition on Wednesday which alleged that the Union government’s ambitious Rs 12,000-crore Char Dham all-weather project was resulting in rampant felling of trees in the Himalayas , issued a notice to the union transport and environment ministries as well as the Uttarakhand government to furnish their replies before the tribunal by March 12. The petitioners, which included Doon-based NGO ‘ Citizens for Green Doon ’ as well as residents of different villages which fall on the route of the all-weather highway, had alleged that the project was being executed bypassing mandatory environment clearances and environment impact assessment (EIA) procedures, The NGT bench, presided by acting chairperson Javed Rahim said that “it is hoped that the respondents would not proceed with the project till the next hearing.”

In their plea before NGT submitted on Tuesday, the petitioners had sought “protection of the forests and the unique bio-diversity and ecology of the Char Dham valleys” alleging that the mega project which involved widening of around 900 km of roads had “already resulted in the cutting of 25,303 trees over a stretch· of 360 km of forest land in complete violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the EIA Notification, 2006.” “Work is about to be initiated in cutting thousands of trees in around 544 km of the identified land. If this work commences, it will result in irreparable damage to the environment and ecology of the Chard Dham valleys,” the petition said.

The petitioners also appealed to the tribunal to “impose a stay on the ongoing work and direct the government to identify stretches of highways where landslides are likely to occur due to recent clearing of trees and to initiate mitigation and restoration work in these stretches.” Sanjay Parikh, the lawyer representing the petitioners, told TOI, “Although we proposed a stay, the bench refused to impose it saying that they can not do so before hearing out the respondents. However, they expressed hope that the respondents would not proceed with the project till the next hearing.”

The lawyer added that “the 15 forest clearances sought by the Union government under the project are fraudulent in nature.” “In order to avoid EIA clearances, which in case of forest land diversion above 100 km would require the project proponent to put a detailed report in public domain and subsequently hold public hearings, the project was deliberately fragmented in smaller portions below 100 km. As a result, the possibility of questioning and challenging the project by the public was nullified.”

The Char Dham all-weather highway is a pet project of PM Modi who laid its foundation stone in December 2016. He has been monitoring the project’s progress closely and has kept the state’s bureaucratic machinery on its toes regarding its speedy execution. CM Trivendra Rawat and chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh — both of whom have held multiple meetings in the past few months to monitor the project — have repeatedly stressed that the highway is top priority.