Chandigarh The foundation stone-laying for the 19.2-km Zirakpur–Panchkula greenfield bypass was deferred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 17 visit after the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) declined to vacate the interim stay on tree felling, leaving a key component of the proposed Chandigarh tricity ring road stalled. Construction of a project on a new alignment is categorised as a greenfield project by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the agency implementing this project.
Event Context
On April 1, the HC prohibited cutting of any tree of any age and species in Haryana, including about 5,000 trees proposed to be cut for construction of Zirakpur-Panchkula bypass, without court’s permission. The NHAI failed to secure any relief from the HC during an in-chamber hearing on July 16, a day before the PM was scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the project.
The PIL said the project would result in the felling of more than 5,000 mature trees (over 2,000 in Punjab forest land, more than 2,200 in Panchkula golf course and around 1,000 in Sector 1-A) causing irreversible damage to biodiversity, air quality, groundwater recharge and ecological balance because it passes through the 124-acre Panchkula golf course, which the petitioners said was used by 2,500 members for recreation, physical activity and social engagement.
The NHAI, in its reply before the HC, said the proposed alignment traverses through a portion of the Panchkula golf course in Sector 3 but this fact alone cannot justify halting a national infrastructure project. The NHAI contended that the Panchkula golf course does not enjoys the legal status of a forest or ecologically protected area. It contended that the golf course is not a notified forest and therefore its trees are not protected under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 merely because they stand within the golf course. The NHAI also said that tree-felling figures (14,000 trees within the golf course or that 2,200 trees would be felled) were exaggerated. The NHAI said only trees falling within the project’s right of way would be affected and the actual number would be determined through a formal tree census by the competent authority. The NHAI said since the alignment cuts through only a portion of the golf course, the remaining area would continue to function as a golf course.
Player Focus
For clarity, the PR-7 spur or branch of the Ambala–Chandigarh greenfield highway (NH-205A) and the Zirakpur–Panchkula bypass are distinct projects but both form part of the proposed tricity ring road. The PM laid the foundation stone for the PR-7 spur on July 17, but the foundation stone ceremony for the Zirakpur-Panchkula bypass was deferred due to the HC declining to vacate the interim injunction. So, the project remains stalled. The initial portion of the bypass alignment follows PR-7 (planned road-7), a corridor already conceived in the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) master plan. Beyond the PR-7 corridor, the road extends around Panchkula to carry long-distance traffic outside the urban core.
Team Analysis
A public interest litigation (PIL) filed by tricity residents contended that though the project envisaged elevated construction, only 6.19 km of the corridor is proposed to be elevated. They argued that the elevated structure has been designed at a height of merely 5.5 to 6 metres, while the mature trees, most of them over 20 years old, along the alignment average 8 to 15 metres in height, making large-scale felling of fully grown trees inevitable even in the so-called elevated sections. It contended that the alignment cuts through ecologically sensitive areas, including notified forest land in Punjab, the Panchkula golf course, the Sector 1-A green belt and vegetation along Ghaggar river.
While the PIL alleged the authorities failed to apply the precautionary principle and did not properly evaluate alternative alignments that could have preserved trees, the court directed NHAI to submit all re-alignment proposals that were made by its technical team to enable the court to find out whether mind was applied contemplating an alternative site for the construction of the proposed bypass.
Match Outlook
The PIL maintained that the project could instead be realigned along the existing NH-7 corridor or closer to the Ghaggar riverbed, thereby preserving the golf course, adjoining forest land and other green belts. It contended that the present alignment would cut through nearly five fairways, rendering the golf course functionally unusable, requiring extensive reconstruction and disrupting a facility used by more than 2,500 members.
