GUWAHATI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu cognizance of the widespread tree felling for the expansion of the national highway from Guwahati to Goalpara in Assam.
The principal bench, led by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel, initiated the case based on a news report highlighting the large-scale cutting of trees for the highway project, as per reports by TOI.
The NGT, recognising the "substantial issue relating to compliance of environmental norms and the provisions of the scheduled act," has implicated the Chief Secretary of Assam and the Chairman of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) as parties in the case.
According to NHIDCL authorities, approximately 28,000 trees are slated to be felled for the expansion of the NH 17 on the 128-km-long Guwahati-Goalpara stretch.
This alarming revelation has sparked a grassroots movement reminiscent of the 1970s Chipko movement, with internationally acclaimed filmmaker Rima Das leading the charge.
Renowned filmmaker Rima Das, taking to Twitter on November 19, posted a video rallying for support to protect the region's vital green cover. In the video, children were seen holding hands around a massive tree, resembling a modern-day adaptation of the iconic tree-hugging protests synonymous with the Chipko movement. Rima Das passionately urged authorities, including Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and central figures like Nitin Gadkari and Narendra Modi, to intervene and reconsider the impending destruction of these trees.
