More loss of green cover: Chennai District Green Committee approves NHAI Port-Maduravoyal Expressway project

-- by Varsha V.

The Chennai District Green Committee has approved an application from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to fell roughly 2,200 trees under the scope of its Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway project. According to media reports, the project will ease the movement of heavy motor vehicles along the route – the current detour runs to nearly 75 kms and takes two hours, which the proposed elevated corridor will cut down to 45 minutes. Operations at Chennai port are expected to gain by an increase in handling capacity and reduction in waiting time. That the project stands to benefit the city is of little argument; what grates is the loss of precious green cover that Chennai can ill afford to deplete.

According to a report in the Times of India earlier in April, the Chennai Metropolitan Area has suffereda 13.3 per cent loss of vegetation between 2013 and 2022, amounting to a whopping 15.54 sqkm; this has directly contributed to a 6.53 degree Celsius increase in land surface temperature. As Chennai loses cool pockets of greenery, lakes and marshes to rapid urbanisation, the need is emerging for cohesive, impactful policies that mandate green development. The copse of trees that the project is proposing to cut down is a dense thicket under the Maduravoyal flyover, that – ironically enough – was planted five years ago with funds provided by NHAI under the Green Highways Policy 2015. The afforestation initiative cost Rs. 6.64 crores and was carried out by the Forest Department. However, a MoU soon followed between the NHAI and the Forest Department, allowing the former leeway to conduct developmental or road-widening activities on the same land if necessary. The question then – as TD Babu of the NGO Nizhal points out – is this: If further development was anticipated, why plant the trees on this particular patch of land in the first place? Speaking to The Hindu about the issue at hand, Mr. Babu said, “In such a case, the Forest Department should have gone for planting shrubs instead of trees. The NHAI should not have allowed the planting of trees in large numbers, especially within the ramp area. The technically sound Forest Department should not have created the dense green cover.”

According to the website of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Green Highways Policy aims to ‘strike a balance between highways development and environmental protection.’ This cannot be achieved if there is little commitment to the nurturing and protection of new greenery planted. Media reports have also carried the response of District Forest Officer V.A. Saravanan, who assures that the NHAI is “ready to provide funds for the trees in a 1:10 ratio.” The issue is not quite about the funds, though. It isn’t easy to replace lost greenery. Nature takes her own course, and afforestation initiatives cost time and effort in addition to money. Compensatory tree planting must include within its scope a sacred obligation to nurture, grow and protect new greenery for the benefit of the city. Anything less reduces the exercise to adhering to the word of law and not its spirit.

Chennai is growing, and growing fast. Of course there’s a need to ramp up infrastructural development. In fact, it can well be argued that civic projects like the above expressway stand to bring environmental benefits in the long run – shorter distances equal lesser polluting emissions, after all. What is missing is a focus on preservation where possible, a factor that doesn’t seem to carry much consideration today. Mitigation of green loss must become a non-negotiable part of urban planning so that green development becomes the cultural norm, not an attribute that can be bartered away via compensations.

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