Overview
- The Jehanabad district magistrate lodged an FIR against the contractor for proceeding with the ₹100-crore, 7.48 km road-widening project without proper forest department approval.
- Full-grown trees were deliberately left standing on the new carriageway, forcing vehicles into a hazardous zig-zag alignment linked to multiple accidents.
- The forest department denied a No Objection Certificate to fell the trees and insisted on 14 hectares of compensatory forest land before granting clearance.
- Emergency measures now include barricades, painted drums, sandbags and reflective tape installed around each tree to warn drivers and reduce collision risk.
- The standoff underscores persistent friction between Bihar’s rapid infrastructure expansion and national forest conservation laws on compensatory afforestation.