417 trees to be felled for NHAI tunnel to decongest Mahipalpur | Latest News Delhi
New Delhi
Four hundred and seventeen trees, located near Nelson Mandela Marg, need to be felled or transplanted for a 4.3-kilometre underground tunnel being constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) between the Shiv Murti interchange on NH-48 and Nelson Mandela Marg, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday.
The project has received clearances from Delhi’s Ridge Management Board (RMB), Supreme Court and SC-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), and authorities have applied for clearances from the Union ministry of environment forest and climate change (MoEFCC), as stipulated under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
A project report uploaded by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on its website states the total length of the project, including the approach road to the tunnel, will be 4.9 kilometres and is aimed at decongesting Mahipalpur and its surrounding areas. “The project starts from near Shivmurti interchange (NH-48)and ends at Nelson Mandela Marg at Vasant Kunj. The main objective of the project is that NH-48 carries very heavy traffic to Chattarpur and Vasant Kunj from Gurugram and creates heavy congestion at Mahipalpur due to very narrow city road. Traffic is also seen to and from Delhi airport and Mahipalpur and Rangpuri markets,” the report said.
The proposal, in works since 2022, was shared with the DPCC, which conducted a public hearing on Thursday to gather public feedback on the project. The suggestions and objections will be shared with the Union environment ministry, officials said.
A senior DPCC official said the public hearing was held at the office of the district magistrate (south Delhi) on Wednesday and Thursday. “All the feedback gathered, including objections, will be collated and eventually sent to MoEFCC,” a senior DPCC official, who was part of the hearing, said.
For felling or transplanting 417 trees, 4,170 saplings will be planted under compensatory afforestation, the project report said.
The tunnel will pass through 5.825 hectares under the southern Ridge, while permission has been applied under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, for another 1.68 hectares of a deemed forest, the report said.
RMB cleared the project in November 2022, forwarding it to CEC, which subsequently cleared the project in June 2023 and a final clearance was granted by the Supreme Court in October 2023. However, for any project being built in a forest, clearances are needed under the FCA.
NHAI, in its report, said the project will also reduce travel time from Gurugram and Mahipalpurto Vasant Kunj through NH-48.
“The project will create a short distance route that will take less travel time, and hence, resolve traffic congestion problem at the aforesaid places. In addition, it will improve local ambient air quality and reduction in carbon footprint during entire life cycle of the project,” NHAI said.
Residents and commuters living in the vicinity said that traffic movement from Nelson Mandela Marg to Vasant Kunj is generally smooth due to wide roads, but the congestion starts between Vasant Kunj and Mahipalpur, and further towards Shiv Murti upon reaching Mahipalpur, as the road width narrows, leading to a bottleneck.
Gurmehar Kaur, 29, who commutes from Tilak Nagar to Gurugram for work via NH-48, said congestion is seen at Mahipalpur even around midnight. “I don’t work regular office hours, but from 1pm to 10pm. The traffic is so bad at Mahipalpur that even in these off-peak hours, a waiting time of 20 to 30 minutes near Shiv Murti is not uncommon,” she said.
NHAI said the availability of a six-lane road at Nelson Mandela Marg also met the design configuration of the tunnel, which has been proposed as a six-lane facility.
