Saturday, 04 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
More than two lakh trees have been cut so far for the all-weather Char Dham road project in Uttarakhand. The cutting of trees, dumping the roadworks debris into the rivers and other aspects of the project have not only caused major environmental damage but also created dozens of danger zones on the Char Dham road. Addressing the media here on Friday, the ‘Water Man of India’ Rajendra Singh, Suresh Bhai and other activists expressed concern at the state of affairs and have appealed to the government to prevent damage to about two lakh Deodar trees for the project execution on a 95 kilometre stretch of the national highway from Uttarkashi to Gangotri. Suresh Bhai said that maximum trees will be cut for constructing the planned tunnel route from Sukkhi Bend to Jhala and till Gangotri. An alternative route has been suggested to the government to prevent destruction of thousands of Deodars and other trees. The government can make a new road from Jaspur to Jangla via Purali, Harshil, Bagori and Mukhba which will entail minimal axing of trees. The activists said that if the government wants, it can save the green Deodars of Gangotri and save more than two lakh trees on the entire stretch to prevent major damage to the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone. The excessive destruction of forests, dumping of debris in the rivers and tampering with the fragile mountains of the region should stop and ongoing commercial activities should be strengthened. This will protect both the environment and sustain the livelihoods of people to stall migration from the region. The government should take necessary measures to protect the region where the Ganga river originates, stressed the activists. Indira Khurana, Ramesh Sharma, Virendra Painuli, Atul Sharma and others were also present on the occasion.
