90 Trees Cut Near Butler Palace Lucknow: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Thursday restrained the state authorities from felling trees in the city for widening of roads. The court also asked if the authorities have any plan to plant new trees at alternative places to compensate for the trees cut down. Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice VK Dixit passed the order on a PIL against cutting of trees in the Butler Palace area and Tilak Marg on Dalibagh, but it is likely to come as a deterrent in other instances of tree felling as well. Wideninf of NH24, for instance, has already taken a toll on some 8,200 trees. The court asked the government if there was any technology to extract a grown up tree and plant it at a desired place? It was submitted on behalf of the state authorities that they had obtained the permission for cutting 93 trees for widening roads and 90 of them have already been felled around the above-mentioned localities. The court has fixed February 18 as the date for further hearing. The widening of roads is one of the main developmental activity which leads to massive tree loss every year. But, there isn't much that forest department can do to stop it. It only avers to plant double the number of trees cut in the construction activity. At present, it's the widening of NH 24, between Allahabad and Lucknow, which has led to the loss of about 8,200 trees. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had started the work in October and since then thousands of decade-old trees and new plantations have been cleared along 42 km stretch in Lucknow alone. Though tree felling is a huge environmental loss, it leaves forest department's coffers richer by crores. A single fullgrown tree when cut not only brings double the compensation cost but also royalty — not less than Rs 1,500 — to forest department. On the other hand, according to rough estimates, the department might be incurring around Rs 50 to 70 lakh on care and maintenance of trees on a single sq km of area in three years time. "This isn't the revenue we strive to earn, it comes as a compensation," said sources in the department. Sources also said that there was no way department could turn down the permission sought to fell trees for road widening. "First, it's a development activity, second, the land along highways did not belong to forest department. Though it's a declared protected forest for the management of plantation, it did not belong to the department." Forest department, at the affected stretch, will plant double the number of trees lost, which in the given case comes out to be 16,000. The agency which fells trees pays double the cost of plantation for compensatory afforestation. Going by the standard that the department gets Rs 3,000 as a minimum amount to plant and nurture a tree for five years, felling at NH 24 has brought about Rs 9.6 crore to forest department for compensatory afforestation. But, will it help recover the lost green wealth? "If a hundred-year-old tree is cut and a new sapling is planted instead, it can not recover the loss. The impact will show in the long run but we are never sure if the tree would be cut again," said one of the officers in Lucknow forest division. “A full grown tree covers about 100 sq metre area while a new sapling covers a one sq metre area. The tree cover which is lost can only be recovered in ten years' time,” said the official. The compensatory plantation is done along the newly widened highways and on forest land also in case there is no space available within city limits for compensatory afforestation. In road-widening cases, forest department has to give permission within a month. "These are the projects that even NHAI might not be aware of. Like Agra-Delhi highway, where four-laning is proposed but the agency might not be knowing of it beforehand," said the officer. One thing that can be done is constructing a new set of lane along the existing one, without cutting the trees on the divider. But, for that agency might have to acquire land which is another contentious issue. It is also not possible to let the old trees be as that will lead to accidents on the highway, said the officer.