Overview
- The National Green Tribunal issued an interim stay on further felling tied to widening the bypass to ten lanes, covering 7,871 trees, while allowing non-cutting construction to continue.
- Demonstrators staged Chipko-style actions, wore pollution masks, and held tributes for trees already cut as rallies grew across Bhopal.
- Protesters allege roughly 1,500 trees were felled in recent days, with claims of cutting continuing until December 24; NHAI and city officials say work stopped by December 23–24.
- Environmentalists say many trees are 40–80 years old and argue that NHAI’s plan to plant about 81,000 saplings would take decades to match the benefits of mature urban cover.
- Activists and petitioners urge scaling the project to six lanes to address traffic needs while reducing ecological loss on the 16-km stretch from Asaram Tiraaha to Ratnagiri Tiraaha.