Four districts have to pay a heavy green price for the proposed Govindpur-Sahebganj two-lane express highway.

At Sahebganj district, 2.21 hectares of uncovered forestland and 0.8627 hectares of covered forestlands will be acquired. Over 2,597 trees at four Mouzas (revenue villages) — Khairasol, Paharpur, Bara Chandvasi and Burudehi — spreading across 2.991 hectares would be cut down for the construction of the highway. At Pakur, around 1,200 trees would be under the axe while the loss of trees in Dumka will be about 4,500.

Regional chief conservator of forest (Dumka) Manraj has send the initial proposal of uprooting trees to the state headquarters after receiving a proposal from the forest department of respective districts in Santhal Pargana.

In the first phase, executive engineers of road divisions would send the proposal to the concerned district forest officials (DFOs) for acquiring the forestland for the highway, Manraj said. The DFO would then conduct survey of lands and send the final report to the state.

According to DFO of Sahebganj J.P.N. Sinha, the road division or the concerned authorities will only get the no-objection certificate only after compensating for cutting the trees as per the norms of the ministry of forest and environment.

The 330km-stretch highway would cost approximately Rs 800 crore, sources said. The road will begin from Govindpur (Dhanbad) and pass through Sahebganj via Jamtara, Dumka, Pakur. The road would also cover some parts of Palazori, in between Jamtara and Dumka, at Deoghar.

© The Telegraph / July 8, 2009