Residents protest felling of trees in Faridabad

FARIDABAD: Residents living near the Ambedkar Road in Faridabad took out a protest on Monday criticising the government’s move of felling of trees in the area, to widen the road as part of the smart smart city project.
The residents alleged that despite their demands to transplant all trees, about 30 trees have been felled in the last one week. As per the project details, the authorities are planning to widen the road and built pedestrian path, cycle track on this stretch.The road will also have CCTV cameras, smart poles, underground utilities and will also have WiFi connectivity.
The project is divided in two phases. In phase 1, the agency —hired by the authority — would cover 9.49 kilometres and remove around 265 trees. “Faridabad is one of the most polluted cities in the country. Unfortunately, the authorities fail to understand that good tree cover is part of the city’s development as it helps bring down pollution. There is enough space on the road to build pedestrian path and cycle tracks. The trees are being chopped unnecessarily. We want to save these trees, at least with help of transplantation,” said Rohit Chawla, one of the residents who took this up with the authorities and cops.
Shockingly, both the civic authorities and the forest department didn’t seem bothered. In a letter (a copy of which is with TOI) sent by horticulture department of HSVP (Faridabad) to the project proponent, the department states, “This office has no objection for removal/ transplantation of trees, etc. but necessary permission kindly be granted from the forest department.”
The forest department, on the other hand, said that the area doesn’t come under its jurisdiction.