Overview
- The bench, which issued notices Wednesday to the Centre and NHAI, set April 1 to consider a request to halt the project during the case.
- Petitioners led by senior advocate Anand Chhibbar seek a stay and a new alignment, saying alternatives exist and noting the NHAI tender closed on March 20 with bids advancing.
- The plea says the current route would fell about 5,000 mature trees, including over 2,000 on notified forest land, more than 2,200 at the Panchkula Golf Course, and around 1,000 in Sector 1‑A and other green belts.
- They argue compensatory planting proposed in Ferozepur roughly 300 km away cannot replace local ecosystems, pointing to Punjab and Haryana’s sub‑4% forest and tree cover and the Ghaggar corridor’s role as an urban green belt.
- Planned as a 19.2 km, six‑lane bypass between NH‑7 and NH‑5, the ₹1,878 crore road is pitched to let Shimla‑bound traffic avoid the Zirakpur choke point with work targeted to start by September and finish in two years.