Overview
- The National Green Tribunal disposed of a citizen petition and upheld permissions for felling 7,871 trees to allow NHAI’s 16.5 km six‑lane widening of the Ayodhya Bypass to proceed.
- The bench required NHAI to carry out large compensatory afforestation of about 80,000 saplings and to replace any rare or threatened species identified during work.
- The tribunal ordered NHAI to produce five years of records showing CAMPA and plantation funds deposited and used, and it directed the state pollution board to verify fund use and year‑wise survival rates.
- A multi‑department technical committee including forest, municipal, horticulture and pollution board officials must monitor plantation survival and maintenance for 15 years under the court’s schedule.
- The NGT accepted the CEC‑reviewed redesign that cut tree removals from roughly 9,900 to 7,871 on safety and traffic grounds and said the project aims to ease severe congestion and remove accident blackspots on the route.