COIMBATORE: The fate of nearly 700 roadside trees, most of them more than 100 years old, hangs in the balance in Coimbatore as the district green committee headed by district collector Kranthi Kumar Patil will soon take a call on the possibility of felling them or transplanting them to a new spot for carrying out a 30km road-widening work between Saravanampatti and Puliyampatti at a cost of `73.32 crore.
According to sources, a field inspection is expected to be carried out by the panel soon to decide the fate of the 668 tamarind, neem, banyan, vagai and mayflower trees. Sources said it would be difficult to remove the tamarind trees without chopping them as they are too big to be transplanted from their location.
The project to be implemented on national highway NH 209 between Coimbatore and Sathyamangalam aims to ease vehicular movement on the road. After major arterial roads such as Avinashi road, Mettupalayam road and Pollachi road across Coimbatore district lost their greenery over the years to indiscriminate felling, avenue trees on Sathyamangalam road that were giving motorists a reprieve from the scorching heat in summer are facing the threat.
The national highways department has identified 668 trees that may hinder the 30.6km road widening work to be executed between Saravanampatti and Puliyampatti and has submitted its report to Coimbatore RDO North, who forwarded it to the green committee.
As part of the project, 1.8km stretch between Saravanapatti and Karattumedu will be converted into four lanes and the road stretch between Kurumbapalayam and Puliyampatti for a length of 28.8km will be widened by three metres to expand the road width to 10 metres.
When contacted, RDO North Govindan said he had visited the site based on the highways department report and after inspection it was forwarded to the green committee, consisting of forest department, highway department and NGO members, for approval.
Based on the forest department’s report, the value for each tree was also fixed before it was sent to the committee, he said. According to a highway official, “We have identified 668 trees located within 2.5 metres of the project area for removal as relocating them may be necessary for taking up the project. The road will be widened into a three-lane road,” he said.
Recently, a designated contractor has marked identification numbers on the trees for removal.
City-based environmentalist K Syeed, who is also a member of district green committee, also agreed that relocation of tamarind trees may not work.
“I will accompany forest and revenue officials and inspect the spot and will suggest to highway officials to carry out the road widening work without cutting the trees because it would be very difficult to replace such huge trees. Apart from its environmental impact on humans, hundreds of creatures such as birds and lizards too would be affected,” he said.