Udupi: National Highway 17 Widening – Chopping Off Trees in Full Swing
by Inchara Digitals
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (PS/SP)
Udupi, Oct 29: The task of removing trees standing alongside the stretch of the national highway 17 between Suratkal and Kundapur is underway. A number of trees, which lived here for hundreds of years, are being chopped off, to make room for the long-awaited conversion of the highway stretch into a four-lane one.
The 72.5 kms-stretch of the national highway 17 between Kundapur and Suratkal is being converted into a four lane road. Contracts have already been allotted to nine tree cutting companies for bringing down trees standing by the roadside. Several of these companies are based in Kerala, and the tree-cutting work is being carried out presently at considerable speed.
The above stretch has been split into nine different divisions namely Surathkal-Mulki, Mulki-Yermal, Yermal-Katpady, Pangala-Santekatte, Santekatte-Koteshwara and a few more.
Tree cutting contract work has been auctioned on the basis of the standard rate prescribed by the government. More than 30,000 precious trees exist on the stretch.
According to forest department sources, there are 16000 trees along the highway between Kundapur and Suratkal, and that these have been auctioned for Rs 181.27 lac. The auction proceeds will be equally shared by the forest department and the state government. The National Highway Authority of India is required to deposit a sum of Rs 68.15 lac with the government towards cost of growing trees again by the roadside, and also as the state is compelled to sell the trees it had grown over the years. The Authority also is required to plant saplings, which should be not less than double the number of trees now being uprooted, and hand it over to the forest department, revealed assistant conservator of forests, Manjunath Shetty.
The highway department, which got rights over the trees from the forest department, in turn, auctioned it to private bidders. It is learnt that a couple of the contractors, who have bagged the contract for cutting the trees, have resold the rights to others at a profit.
The forest department has been closely monitoring the tree cutting operation presently under way, as it is vested with the responsibility of ensuring that only those trees belonging to the government that have been auctioned, are being cut down, and not others. The local policemen have also been given the responsibility of security to ensure that environmentalists do not create hurdles for this operation.
Voices of land acquisition-affected go unheard:
As per the original plan, 60 metres of land was proposed to be acquired on both sides of the road for highway widening purpose. Later, after discussions, it was informed that only 45 metres of land would be acquired, in tune with the concessions extended in Kerala and Goa by the highways department. However, the survey department is presently conducting its survey for a stretch of 60 metres. The affected people have now become a harassed lot, as the long-awaited clarification for their doubts from the national highway department has remained elusive.