Forest officials join green activists in hailing verdict

“Several foresters were upset when the Revenue Department pushed the project,” said a senior forest department official, not wishing to be quoted.

Forest officials were apprehensive right from the beginning, as the project was to eat into reserve forests of the already fragile Eastern Ghats. The environmental panel of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the State took up field surveys, which mooted acquisition of hillocks in four districts. According to the top official, several forest guards were perturbed the during the joint survey, fearing that the trees would be axed to pave way for the project, initially estimated to cost Rs 10,000 crore.

“The High Court has rendered justice; this is great news for those concerned about ecology,” said activist Piyush Manush, pointing out that the district has already suffered ecological damage. There were small rivulets and water channels coming along the stretch, he said, arguing that acquiring them for the sake of a road was not development. The project, if implemented, would result in loss of more than 10 lakh trees, Manush said.

“The highway is proposed to pass through reserve forest areas in Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri and Salem districts for a stretch of more than 20 kilometres. This will deteriorate Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu,” said conservation scientist A Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation. This is a big relief for reserve forests coming in Siruvanjur (Chengalpattu range) in Kancheepuram, Manjavadi ghat and Pallipatti in Shervaroyan hills, and Jarugumalai in Salem and Tiruvannamalai districts, he added.

The small pockets of reserve forests were crucial in fighting climatic change, while the hillocks play a major role in providing moisture and rainfall to the local farmers. There are pockets and tribal hamlets in Tiruvannamalai and Jarugumalai area where farming is carried throughout the year due to these small island forests. If executed by cutting through the forest, the project would destroy the local farming practices, explained Kumaraguru.