MSRDC Axes 2 Lakh Trees For Expressway
The MSRDC will cut over 2.5 Lakh trees for Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway but promises to plant 8 Lakh trees.
The under-construction Mumbai - Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway with a distance of 701 km will cause the cutting down of over 2.5 Lakh trees and at a meeting on June 3rd the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have said they have cut 1.5 Lakh trees already, the MSRDC have said they will replant 8 Lakh trees to replace the ones they cut down.
The MSRDC usually plant 583 trees every 1 km but for this project will be planting extra trees, 650 for every 1 km, and have promised to plant local trees that will survive. They have also promised to provide water and irrigation systems for all the trees.
Environmentalists have said that the loss of so many trees will take many years to recover and if there plan to start planting trees next year during monsoon season it would still take up to 20 years to have fully grown trees and replace what was lost when they cut down the trees. Also a worry for them is how will the state provide the nearly 8 lakh liters of water needed daily to look after these trees.
The expressway is expected to be completed in 2021, with all land acquisitions already completed work has begun in 16 locations along the route.
