The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has instructed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to conduct a study to minimize tree loss during the expansion of National Highway 163, which connects Hyderabad and Bijapur. This decision came after a petition was filed by members of the environmental group ‘Save Banyans of Chevella’ opposing the removal of ancient banyan trees for road expansion. The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has been given four months to complete the assessment process.
Initially, more than 1,000 trees along the 46-kilometer stretch between Moinabad and Manneguda were planned to be removed for the four-lane road. However, citizen activists raised objections in 2019.
The NGT bench, led by Justice Pushpa Satyanarayana and Satyagopal Korlapati, expressed concerns about the feasibility and cost of transplanting 780 banyan trees. Transplantation is only possible for trees with a girth not exceeding 65 centimeters. The bench also noted that if uprooted trees are transplanted but do not survive, it would be a waste of money.
