Following protests and police cases against several people, the Uttarakhand government has paused cutting trees for the Bhaniyawala-Rishikesh road project in Dehradun district. The National Highways Authority of India scheme aims to widen the 19-kilometre stretch near the airport and had marked 4,369 trees for removal. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stated he has asked the Chief Secretary and concerned officials to conduct thorough discussions with residents, elected representatives, experts and other stakeholders before any further tree felling. The authority had earlier reported depositing over Rs 1.97 crore for compensatory afforestation and its upkeep for ten years. In addition, the state government transferred 40 hectares of non-forest land to the Forest Department to support new plantation efforts.
