NGT orders ban on tree cutting for road widening in Bhopal till Jan 8

Bhopal, Dec 24 The National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Wednesday, ordered a ban on cutting of trees for widening of an existing four-lane road known as "Ayodhya Bypass" in outer circle in Madhya Pradesh's state capital Bhopal.

However, this ban on felling of large scale trees has been ordered till January 8, 2026, and the further decision would be taken during the next hearing in the plea filed by a Bhopal-based organisation working to save the environment.

"The NGT has ordered an temporary ban on the felling of trees as the matter is being heard. The tribunal has fixed January 8 for the next hearing and till then, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been asked to stop the cutting of trees," a official source told IANS on Wednesday.

The NGT's order came following relentless protest from the local residents and the opposition Congress for the last few days.

The Bhopal district Congress workers were to hold a massive protest to oppose the felling of trees on Thursday.

At the centre of the dispute is the Ayodhya

Under the plan, the existing four-lane road will be widened to six lanes, along with two service lanes on each side, effectively turning it into a 10-lane corridor.

The project is being implemented by the NHAI.

However, soon after cutting of trees existing on along the road side started a few days ago, environmentalists, nature lovers and civil society groups objected.

The matter reached the NGT, which constituted a special committee to assess the project.

Following its review, the committee granted conditional approval for the felling of 7,871 trees, reduced from an earlier estimate of 10,000.

The approval requires the planting of 10 saplings for every tree cut, amounting to nearly 80,000 saplings.

While the NHAI has said that the plantation drive will not remain limited to paperwork, claiming there will be monitoring mechanisms and accountability to ensure sapling survival.

However, environmental experts said that mature, decades-old trees cannot be replaced by newly planted saplings, as it takes years for a tree to provide comparable ecological benefits.

Following this, the NGT heard the matter again on Wednesday and ordered for a temporary ban on tree cutting till the next court hearing on January 8, 2026.

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