NGT should constitute committee to monitor saplings planted, says Eswaran of Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) should constitute a committee to monitor planting and nurturing of saplings in compensation for trees cut for infrastructure projects in the State, said Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam coordinator V. Eswaran.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) cut 2,239 trees for the Coimbatore - Pollachi road project and it had to plant almost 23,000 saplings in compensation. According to information gathered through Right to Information (RTI) Act, the NHAI planted the saplings through the District Rural Development Agency in eight panchayats at Kinathukadavu, Pollachi North, Pollachi South, and Annamalai. The NHAI earned ₹ 33.21 lakh from the trees felled for the project.
Since adequate information was not available from all the eight panchayats, Mr. Eswaran and his team visited two panchayats on June 26, 2025 and found that just about 100 of the 2,000 odd saplings that were planted had survived.
Mr. Eswaran said the NGT should take suo moto action on the NHAI and officials for not ensuring that the saplings planted had grown into trees. Nearly 4,351 trees were cut for the Chengapalli - Walayar road project and 13,000 saplings had to be planted. However, only 6,000 were planted, he added.
With regard to the Pollachi road project, the panchayats claim that large amount of money was spent to maintain the saplings. But, the survival rate of the saplings is poor. This is because no one has taken the effort or care to maintain the saplings. This defeats the Supreme Court and High Court orders on planting saplings in compensation for trees cut for road projects.
Mr. Eswaran submitted a letter to Coimbatore District Collector Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar demanding action on the NHAI officials and the road contractor and also to ensure that enough saplings were planted in compensation to the trees cut for the Pollachi road project.
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