Warangal highway losing green cover

Hyderabad: The Roads and Building department, through its contractors, have cut down over 800 trees along the Hyderabad-Warangal highway as part of its road-widening project. The trees that were over 50 years old could have been translocated entirely but workers are chopping their branches — with the chopped wood taken away for disposal in huge trucks. Some of the state government’s top bosses have been elected from Warangal and a wider highway to Warangal has been an election promise.

Trees have been chopped at Raghunathpalli, Allaire, and Station Ghanpur. Sources from these village say 10-15 trees are being cut down every day. Pavan Thota, a resident of Warangal said: “The two-lane carriageway had trees on either side that were over 50 years old.”

In response to a complaint filed at the National Green Tribunal, it was ordered that 100 saplings should be planted for every tree chopped by the government and the Department had agreed to follow this directive.

However, when officials at the site were approached, questions from this correspondent were not answered. Close to 1,500 vehicles travel along this highway daily, most of which are heavy duty vehicles. The cutting of trees is thus expected to have a severe impact on the pollution caused by these vehicles as well.