For the ambitious Inter-Modal Station (IMS) project at Ajni under National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), as many as 1,940 trees are proposed to be chopped off.
Meanwhile, grabbing strong crircism from the environmentalists over the damage to be caused to environment for the IMS project, NHAI stated that ‘approximately only 1,940 trees’ are proposed to be felled as per the detailed project study.
However, explaining the whole scenario behind the choping of the trees, the Regional Office of NHAI said that the IMS project will be executed in accordance with Environmental Impact Assessment. Trees proposed to be felled would be either replanted or transplanted as per the advice of Forest Department and Forest experts.
Apart from the project, the NHAI also proposes to plant 25,000 trees on the available vacant spaces near the National Highway Project lands in and around Nagpur as a compensatory act.
Looking at brighter side of the project, NHAI claimed that the project IMS will 737 litres of fuel and prevent 75,65,196 kgs of Carbon Dioxide emissions over a period of up to year 2050.
The IMS is proposed to be constructed at Ajni. For the purpose, 44.4
acres of Indian Railway land adjacent to Railway tracks will be acquired. The IMS is proposed to handle over 3 lakh passengers per day. It will have bus stand, Railway station, and a Metro station in the proposed vicinity. As per NHAI, the project has Nagpur Railway Station is heavily congested and has limited scope of expansion. The project IMS is planned as Ajni Railway station is very congested and has limited scope of expansion.
