Noida pays Rs 50k as penalty for cutting additional trees

Noida: The Noida Authority has paid Rs 50,000 as compensation to the forest department for axing additional trees for the construction of a flyover at Parthala Chowk.
The authority had permission to cut 217 trees and transplant 1,816 others, but it chopped two more without permission, said PK Srivastava, divisional forest officer.
“A case was filed after we received complaints from environmental activists.The authority has responded to it and also paid compensation,” he said. He added that forest officials visited the spot after the complaint and found some extra neem trees had been cut down. Neem is a protected species in UP and cutting down of the tree is prohibited. Therefore, the penalty for cutting the two extra trees was higher.
Transplantation of smaller trees is in progress and officials said an inspection will be done once the work is over. “In transplantation, it is important to ensure that the plants are placed properly so that the survival rate goes up,” said Kitab Singh, range officer for the area.
The smaller trees are being moved to the green belts in the neighbouring areas of sectors 121, 122 and 123.
Environmental activists claimed that the work is not being done properly. “The authority is using heavy construction machines to unscientifically uproot plants and trees, damaging the roots in the process. This way, the plants will not survive at all. We have been raising this issue for months, but nobody has checked the transplantation process yet,” said Vikrant Tongad, environmental activist and the complainant in the case.
The proposed flyover at Parthala Chowk will be about 800 metres long and run parallel to the upcoming Metro line from Noida towards Noida Extension or from Sector 121 towards Sector 123. With six lanes, it will be 26 metres wide.
With the metro and a flyover coming up, it means that most of the trees along the stretch will have to be relocated or cut down within the next few months.
According to Noida Authority’s survey, about 1.25 lakh vehicles use the Parthala Chowk intersection daily. During peak hours, i.e., from 10am to 11am, an average of 18,000 vehicles cross it every hour. The busy intersection connects Ghaziabad in the north, Greater Noida West sectors in the east, Noida City Centre, Sector 71 intersection and further towards Delhi in the west and the crowded 7x sectors in the south.