By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Rishikesh: Ignoring days of strong protests, woodcutters on Monday restarted felling sal trees at Saatmore area to widen a highway after a couple of people who were trying to protect them were detained amid heavy deployment of police force.
As the protesters regrouped on Saatmor area near Rishikesh to continue their protests against the felling of 3000-4000 trees, the police swung into action and started warning them not to interfere in the government’s development works. As few men tried to “chipko” (hug) trees, they were forcibly detained and whisked away by the police.
When the protesters were being detained just before noon, the woodcutters started felling trees rapidly in full view of the remaining people, who were raising slogans against the government. With tears in their eyes, a handful of women started crying pleading the authorities not to chop trees.
Opposition to the proposed felling of trees for the construction of the four lane Rishikesh-Bhaniawala Highway has gathered momentum in the past few days with scores of people, environmentalists and students joining daily protests to save sal trees and an elephant corridor of the Rajaji National Park.
The protest site has turned into the centre of an expanding environmental movement, with large numbers of people, particularly youngsters, assembling every day to voice their opposition to the project.
Many demonstrators have adopted the symbolic “Chipko” movement of hugging trees, recalling the historic green agitation that originated in the hills of Uttarakhand in 1970s to prevent indiscriminate felling of trees. The Chipko movement was pioneered by legendary environmentalist Gaura Devi. She didn’t get any Padma award mainly because of her simplicity.
Carrying placards and raising slogans in support of trees, the protesters have urged the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Uttarakhand government to stop felling them. Scores of trees have already been felled at Saat Mor area.
The environmentalists argued that the project would result in the loss of thousands of mature trees, fragment wildlife habitat and damage the ecologically sensitive Doon Valley, which serves as an important elephant corridor.
Environmental groups have also expressed concern over the long-term ecological consequences of large-scale tree felling, warning that it could increase the risk of soil erosion, reduce groundwater recharge and adversely affect local biodiversity. They have demanded that authorities explore alternative alignments or engineering solutions that minimise damage to forests.
“It is a paradox that we, on one hand, are asked to plant trees in the name of mother and on the other hand the very guardians of forests and hills are chopping age old trees in the name of development,” said Anoop Nautiyal, a renowned environmentalist.
Responding to environmental and forest conservation concerns surrounding the Bhaniawala–Jolly Grant–Rishikesh four/six-lane highway project, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said that the project is not merely aimed at developing modern and safer road infrastructure but also accords the highest priority to environmental protection, forest conservation and wildlife safety.
Saurabh Singh, Project Director, PIU Dehradun, NHAI, said that while preparing the engineering design of the project, enhancing road capacity and minimising its environmental impact were among the key priorities.
He said the Right of Way (RoW) has been kept to the minimum possible in the forest stretch of the project. In addition, based on technical inputs from the Uttarakhand Forest Department, WWF-India and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, several scientific wildlife mitigation measures have been incorporated into the project design. These include elephant underpasses, box culverts, pipe culverts and other structures to ensure the safe movement of elephants and other wildlife across the highway.
