Over 17,600 trees felled for UPs 'kanwar' route construction: Panel to NGT
New Delhi(PTI): A fact-finding panel has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that over 17,600 trees have been felled in three Uttar Pradesh districts to make way for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra route.
The tribunal was hearing a case related to the alleged felling of more than 1 lakh trees and shrubs in the protected forest area across the three forest divisions of Ghaziabad, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar for the proposed route between Muradnagar in Ghaziabad and Purkaji in Muzaffarnagar.
In an order dated November 6, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that a joint committee formed earlier to ascertain facts had submitted its interim report.
The committee comprised the Forest Survey of India director, a senior scientist from the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, the state's chief secretary or his representative and the Meerut district magistrate.
"The interim report states that as per the information furnished by the irrigation department, 17,607 trees have been cut in all three districts till August 9, 2024," said the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member A Senthil Vel.
The tribunal noted that while permission was granted to fell 1,12,722 trees, it had later been decided to cut only 33,776 trees.
It said, "The state of UP is directed to clarify if the number of trees to be cut has been calculated strictly in accordance with the provisions of the UP Protection of Trees Act."
The tribunal directed the additional chief secretary of the state's environment department to file an affidavit within two weeks, stating the number of trees that will be cut in the course of the construction of the route.
"It will also be clearly stated if trees have been cut beyond the width of 15 to 20 metres and, if yes, the person responsible for it," it added.
"Considering the fact that the seriousness of the issue relating to a public project, the joint committee is expected to complete the exercise as directed, expeditiously and submit the final report without any delay," the tribunal added.
The tribunal also noted the Surveyor General's earlier statement on October 16 about conducting a drone survey to identify the extent of trees cut on both sides of the canals.
It, however, said, "From the report submitted by the Survey of India that information cannot be gathered."
"Hence, we direct the Surveyor General, Survey of India, to trace out the satellite imagery of the stretches under consideration for the year 2024 (till October 2024) and file a fresh report showing the comparative position of trees which were existing in 2023 and trees fell till October 2024 in the stretches under consideration."
The matter has been posted for further proceedings on November 25.
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Polling underway for 43 seats in first phase of Jharkhand assembly elections, Guv casts vote
Ranchi (PTI): Voting is underway for 43 assembly seats in Jharkhand on Wednesday, with a total of 683 candidates trying their luck, including former CM Champai Soren and ex-MP Geeta Kora.
Polling began around 7 AM in these constituencies across 15 districts and will continue till 5 PM.
However, voting in 950 booths will end at 4 pm, though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise, an official said.
Long queues were seen before a number of booths in the morning.
Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar casts his vote at the ATI polling booth in Ranchi.
"Today is the first phase of voting for the Jharkhand Assembly elections. I urge all voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote as soon as possible and vote with full enthusiasm in this festival of democracy. Remember, first vote and then refreshment!" Gangwar said.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren sought the backing of the people.
In a post on X, he said, "If you like our work, please support us. I promise that I will do 10 years of work in the next 5 years so that no one can stop our pace of progress."
While the JMM-led coalition is seeking to retain power riding on its welfare schemes, including Maiyan Samman Yojna, the BJP has been campaigning with its aggressive Hindutva agenda, infiltration and alleged corruption by the current dispensation.
Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP chief JP Nadda, held several rallies where they attacked the JMM-led coalition over alleged corruption and infiltration.
INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress' Rahul Gandhi, its president Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife and legislator Kalpana Soren highlighted welfare schemes and accused the BJP-led Centre of unleashing all the central agencies, including ED, CBI and I-T, against opposition leaders.
A total of 1.37 crore voters are eligible to participate in the voting on November 13.
Altogether 683 candidates - 609 men, 73 women and a third gender person - are in the fray in the 43 seats.
Out of the 43 assembly seats, 17 are reserved for general, 20 for scheduled tribes and 6 seats for scheduled castes.
A total of 15,344 polling stations have been set up for the first phase of elections.
Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said all preparations for voting have been completed and polling personnel have reached stations.
Mock polls began at 5.30 am, he said.
The responsibility of the entire voting process at 1,152 polling stations will be in the hands of women, Kumar said, adding that 24 booths will be manned by handicapped people.
Since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, a total of Rs 208.78 crore worth of illegal material and cash has been seized, he said.
Till Tuesday, 58 cases have been registered for violation of the Model Code of Conduct, including a maximum of 29 in Garhwa district.
Both the NDA and INDIA bloc pulled out all the stops to ensure their victories in the elections with BJP focusing on ‘Roti, Beti, Maati’ and the INDIA bloc trying to capitalise on ‘suppression of the voice of a tribal CM”. PM Modi did a mega road show in Ranchi on Sunday which attracted huge crowds.
As far as key seats are concerned - former CM Champai Soren, contesting on the BJP ticket in Seraikela, faces a challenge from JMM’s Ganesh Mahli.
BJP’s Geeta Kora, wife of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda will lock horns with Congress’ Sona Ram Sinku in Jagannathpur.
Congress veteran Rameshwar Oraon will lock horns with AJSU’ Shanti Bhagat in Lohardaga.
In Jamshedpur (West), JD (U) candidate Saryu Roy locked horns with Congress’ Banna Gupta.
The second phase of elections will be held on November 20 in the state while the counting of votes will be done on November 23.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the contest was close, with the JMM winning 30 seats and the BJP securing 25, down from 37 in 2014.
The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won a comfortable majority with 47 seats.
Currently, the strength of the assembly stands at 74, with the JMM-led ruling alliance comprising 26 from the JMM, 17 from Congress, and one from RJD.
