Fazilka, October 11 — Nearly 14,114 trees across 63 hectares of forestland in Fazilka district are being felled for the four-laning of the Abohar-Fazilka road and the Abohar bypass under the Bharatmala Pariyojana project. The large-scale tree cutting, approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has triggered sharp concern among environmentalists, who say the already dry district cannot afford further green loss.
According to the approval, non-forest land along National Highway-54 from Amritsar to Pathankot has been designated as accredited compensatory afforestation (ACA) and notified as protected forest. However, local environmental groups argue that this move defeats the purpose of maintaining Fazilka’s ecological balance.
“Rather than doing something positive to drastically change the picture, the departments concerned are turning the district dry gradually,” said Sukhmander Singh, a farmer and environmental activist. “The officers should have laid stress on afforestation within Fazilka itself.”
Fazilka, which has only 1.98 per cent of its total area under forest cover — among the lowest in Punjab — has seen extensive tree loss in recent years due to road and canal projects. The current felling includes 8,841 mesquite, 2,531 eucalyptus, 1,038 dreak, 944 kikar, 423 shisham, 330 mulberry, and several other species, according to official records. The tree-cutting work commenced on Wednesday.
Farmers fear the widening work could once again damage kinnow orchards in the region. “Earlier, the widening of the Abohar–Sri Ganganagar highway had already affected kinnow orchards as hundreds of trees were uprooted along the route,” said advocate and orchardist Mohit Setia. “Now, the same may happen along the Fazilka–Abohar stretch.”
Divisional Forest Officer Amritpal Singh Brar of Muktsar said the felling was being carried out strictly as per approvals and with the necessary compensatory plans in place. “The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has paid the requisite charges. Since no forest land is available in Fazilka for afforestation, land along the Amritsar–Pathankot highway has been identified. Nearly 65,000 saplings will be planted to compensate for the trees felled here,” he noted.
Despite official assurances, local environmentalists maintain that planting saplings in another district will not offset the ecological impact in Fazilka, where rising temperatures and depleting groundwater have already put severe strain on agriculture and biodiversity.
