The Banyans of Chevella are safe for now
As the expansion plans of NH-163 are put on hold, a civil society campaign has shown why roadside trees are as important as forests
“The tiny seed of a mighty Banyan tree is smaller than the egg of the smallest fish. When grown, it is large enough to offer shade to the entire battalion of the king: elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry.”
These words — from a beautiful Tamil verse by the 16th century Pandyan ruler from Tenkasi, Ativirarama Pandian — were quoted by the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal as it directed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study on nearly 1,000 century-old Banyan trees, before taking up the expansion of a section of National Highway 163.
The primary objective of the EIA, the court said on November 6, is to minimise the felling of trees in the Chevella region.
Over a thousand Banyan trees dot the stretch on the highway between Hyderabad and Bijapur, which passes through Chevella in Ranga Reddy district. Considered to be over a century old, they lend the road an ethereal old-world charm. However, a project to expand the highway into a four-lane expressway would have led to them being felled.
The bench, comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Dr Satyagopal Korlapati, underlined the religious, mythical and cultural significance of a Banyan tree, which has the ability to survive for hundreds of years in a tropical climate. It specifically brought up the NHAI’s unwillingness to explore options like re-aligning the road or creating bypasses to protect the trees. The tribunal emphasised that NHAI should have conducted a thorough analysis of all feasible alternatives.
“It is quite common to find a Banyan tree in the middle of every Indian village, as it signifies strength and unity because of which it is considered as the national tree of India,” the bench observed.
The judgement was unique for one more reason: this is the first time that trees outside a forest — in this case, roadside trees — have been recognised as being in need of protection.
“This is a landmark judgement because we have no precedent of an EIA for roadside trees outside forests or reserves,” the social media handle of the citizen action group, Save Banyans of Chevella, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). The group, formed soon after the government announced its intention to expand the highway in 2021, filed a petition seeking a remedy from the tribunal.
The NGT has now given the Centre four months to complete the assessment.
Citing various domestic and international case law, the NGT stressed the urgency of environmental conservation as well as the social, economic, and environmental repercussions of tree removal. The judgement also emphasised the ecological benefits of roadside trees, particularly the Banyan species.
The case in court
In November 2021, the Union ministry of road transport and highways took up the expansion of a 46-km stretch of NH-163 into a four-lane road between Hyderabad Outer Ring Road and Manneguda of Vikarabad district. The idea was first mooted in 2011, and a feasibility study was even carried out in 2017.
The National Highway originates at Bhoopalapatnam in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh and passes through Warangal, Hyderabad, Moinabad, Chevella, Manneguda, Kodangal and finally ends at Ravulapalli village on the Telangana-Karnataka border. It is one of the busiest interstate traffic routes.
When Union minister Nitin Gadkari announced that the Centre had cleared the expansion project at a cost of ₹928.41 crore, nature lovers and environmentalists formed a civil society group called “Save Banyans of Chevella”. The entire stretch has over 9,000 trees, including Banyans.
Three of its group members — Tejah Balantrapu, Pranay Juvvadi and Natasha Ramarathnam — moved the NGT seeking to stall the highway expansion project and asking the NHAI to explore alternative routes. They wanted a direction from the NGT to obtain Environmental Clearance under Section 7(f) of the EIA Notification, 2006.
“The road provides a picturesque look with huge trees forming a large canopy on the route. There are massive Banyan trees, which were planted during the period of last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan and they have been providing shade and shelter to the people,” said Sadhana Ramchandar, one of the members of the campaign.
Worried about the trees
Ramchandar said the Banyan trees could be called heritage trees.
“They are an ecosystem unto themselves. The expansion of the highway will certainly endanger these heritage trees,” she said.
The 46-km stretch also comprises two forest blocks — Mudimyal and Kondapalli — which are rich in biodiversity. “These forests are also home to many rare birds including the migrating Harriers and the rare Tawny Eagles. These precious flora and fauna get wiped out in the highway expansion,” Sadhana said.
Pranav Juvvadi, a wildlife researcher and one of the petitioners, said the NHAI had not come out with a detailed project report that includes the number of trees that would need to be felled, and those that would be translocated.
A senior forest department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said it is virtually impossible to translocate 100-year-old Banyans, though other trees could be translocated. “There is no proper protocol in place nor do the authorities have any scientific method to translocate centuries-old trees. What they translocate in most cases are tree trunks, after cutting down branches and roots and there is no guarantee that they would survive,” he said.
“But we understand the authorities are planning to acquire a right of way for 30 metres on either side of the road for the NH-163 expansion. It would mean all the old and big trees would have to be either felled or translocated,” Juvvadi said.
Road Expansion
The NHAI, which differs on the number of Banyan trees that would have been affected — they told the court that there were 759 trees — said that they approached the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for forest clearance required for highway expansion.
“According to the forest rules, if there is any requirement for felling or translocation of trees, the authorities have to approach the state forest department, which will refer the same to a tree protection committee, which comprises three members of NGOs, besides the department officials,” the official quoted above said.
The NHAI authorities told the NGT bench that they were still waiting for permission for the felling of trees from the forest authorities concerned.
The NHAI said there are 2,500 trees in the non-forest locations on the highway between Hyderabad and Manneguda (within which the 46-kilometre stretch falls). It argued that the expansion was essential, as this stretch was the most accident-prone area due to heavy vehicular traffic.
It assured the bench that around 53,000 trees would be planted along the stretch: 40,000 would be planted towards the avenue plantation and 13,000 towards the median plantation. Avenue plantation refers to planting trees on either side of the highways or roads after expansion. Median plantation refers to planting trees on the road divider on the expanded highways.
“During the construction of the project, trees may be felled at a bare minimum depending upon the site requirement duly considering the road safety of the road commuters. Relocation of the trees will be done as much as possible to save trees in the stretch, which option will be examined before the start of the work,” it said.
“The road design was made in the best possible way keeping in view human life, ecology and other factors,” the NHAI said.
Former member of Parliament, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy took to the social media platform to congratulate the petitioners on their win. “I feel partly responsible,” he wrote. “As an MP, we got the Hyd-Bijapur via Chevella Highway sanctioned in 2016-17. I tried to get the Highway aligned, so that it is straight and shorter, saves travel time, saves Public money, saves lives by reducing accidents and saves Banyan Trees.”
However, Reddy pointed out that the existing ridgeline road dating back to the Nizam’s era, was not only serpentine but also ensured a longer journey. A straight highway would be more efficient, he said on X.
Realignment of the road means changing the alignment of the road instead of expanding the existing route. If the NHAI has to avoid felling of trees, it has to change the alignment of the road a few hundred metres away from the existing road.
A consultant engaged by the NHAI in 2017 to do a feasibility study had explored various alignments and eventually, the NHAI ruled out realignment of the highway as the entire highway had a winding, serpentine shape and most of the neighbouring land was either in the catchment area or in the forest area. Further acquisition of land was not possible due to legal issues.
All the same, the residents aren’t ready to give up the trees. For the last two years, Save Banyan Trees of Chevella has organised nature walks and in 2021, they even celebrated “Diwali under Banyan trees” to mobilise support. Hundreds of people turned up. This time around, however, they’ve chosen to go a slightly different route.
“There are no plans to celebrate Diwali this time yet, we will celebrate it a little later. We want to be a little cautious, as we do not know what the NHAI is up to. We are also preparing to move the Supreme Court if such a situation arises,” Sadhana said.
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