7K trees to go for Sirhind-Patiala 4-laning

Mohit Khanna

Patiala, July 3

The four-laning of the busy Sirhind-Patiala road has finally begun, raising hopes among commuters in Patiala and neighbouring towns and villages of smoother travels in future. However, there is a green cost to the project — as many as 7,392 full-grown banyan, eucalyptus, kikar & Indian rosewood trees will be felled.

Patiala DC Showkat Ahmad Parray said after taking the necessary approval from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the road widening procedure had commenced.

Each side of the road will be 8.75 metres wide, with a 1.2-metre verge in the middle. A steel bridge costing more than Rs 10 crore is being constructed on the Bhakra Canal along this stretch.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rajesh Gulati said tenders had been issued and the process of chopping trees on a 22-km section connecting Sirhind had commenced.

He added 60,000 saplings would be planted in Hoshiarpur and Ropar as compensatory afforestation.

According to sources, in addition to 7,392 trees, around 20,000 saplings and mid-size trees will be chopped.

Ravi Singh Ahluwalia, CEO of the NGO Patiala Foundation, said, “Instead of Hoshiarpur and Ropar, the compensatory afforestation should be done in Patiala. There is ample panchayat land where it could be carried out.”

It was in December 2021 that the then Congress-led state government had given its nod to the road-widening project at a cost of Rs 119.6 crore, but it was put on hold after the Assembly elections in 2022. However, in 2023, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ordered that the road be widened on priority, but the Forest Department objected to the felling of trees.

Former DC Sakshi Sawhney had also taken keen interest in the project.

Both DCs contributed to the relocation of power poles and lines, as well as the resolution of concerns submitted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Currently, the road is in a poor state, riddled with potholes. A large section of the highway is underlit, making it difficult for the commuters, with buses and trucks speeding down the road. Highway robbers frequently take advantage of the limited visibility to committ crimes and flee.

The road was repaired multiple times during the SAD-BJP regime, but it was never recarpeted and widened to allow for seamless flow of traffic. Patiala-Sirhind is an important route not just for social and business purposes, but also for religious reasons, as it connects the Gurdwaras of Dukhniwaran Sahib in Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Gurdwara Chamkaur Sahib.