Agra-Lucknow Expressway: NGT disposes plea challenging project

Representational PictureThe National Green Tribunal has disposed of a plea challenging the forest clearance granted for construction of the 302kmlong AgraLucknow Expressway A bench headed by acting Chairperson Justice U D Salvi passed the order after it was informed that the final approval under Forest Conservation Act has been granted to the project by the Ministry of Environment and ForestsThe counsel appearing on behalf of project proponent submits that the final approval under Forest Conservation Act has been granted by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change vide communication dated January 16 2017 and nothing survives in the present case the bench noted The directions came after the NGT heard a plea by Lucknow native Nikhilesh Singh against illegal felling of trees and construction activity in the forest area which forms part of the sixlane expressway being built by UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority UPEIDAThe plea filed through advocate Neelam Rathore alleged that the Stage I inprinciple approval has been recommended by Regional Empowered Committee REC despite recording violation of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 and specifically noting irregularities mentioned in the site inspection report Singh has contended that salient features of the project as incorporated in the environmental clearance stated that only around 989 hectares of forest land was to be involved and about 27582 trees were located on the Principal Right of Way PRoWHowever in its application for seeking the necessary in principal approval in terms of the Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 UPEIDA mentioned the total length of the expressway proposed being 302222 km comprising 34291814 hectare of nonforest and 1238253 hectare of forest land involving felling of 65342 number of trees the plea saidThe estimated cost of the project was 11526 crore The reserved and protected forest lands proposed for the diversion are 10927 hectares and 145543 hectares respectively There is thus an apparent inconsistency in the relevant information disclosed by UPEIDA for in principle approval and for EC with respect to the area of forest land and the number of trees involved in the proposal it saidThe contentreporting displayed on our website wwwmiddaycom is provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE by us from third party agencies sources without any verification from our side It may contain error bugs and other limitations The readers can rely on the content at their own will Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability data text images video messages or any other material whatsoever or for any claimslossaction that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeverCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the goTrending Video