National Highway Division of PWD has undertaken the work of cutting trees on the stretch from Datta Mandir to Dwarka on Nashik-Pune Road from Friday.The trees are being cut to make a proper six-lane road to accommodate increasing vehicular traffic.The work began with cutting the trees from near Upnagar area along the road.
Vehicles piled up on road from Upnagar till Datta Mandir and the traffic police worked to streamline the traffic.Senior officer of Gardens Department Vivek Bhadane said permission has been granted to cut 15 trees and transplant nine. The work should be over in a matter of two to three days.
A senior officer from the Highways Division (state PWD) said of the 24 trees, nine are on Datta Mandir to Dwarka stretch, and 15 are on the other side of the road, i.e from Dwarka to Datta Mandir stretch.Among the nine trees to be transplanted, eight are banyan trees and one is another tree. The Highways Division (PWD) will have the responsibility to plant five times more trees (at least 120).
Officials said that the trees were on the main carriageway. As a result, the road was asphalted on the other side of the tree as well. There have been accidents in the past with motorists ramming the trees.
In the backdrop of the same, the National Highways Division (PWD) had been following up with the Nashik Municipal Corporation for permission to cut/transplant the trees since 2020.
Officials said that they have taken up the work of cutting the trees after adhering to all the terms put forth by the NMC.
While there were tree lovers who were saddened about cutting of trees, many commuters said that removing the trees had become the need of the hour owing to increasing vehicular traffic on the road.
Suresh Pagar, a resident of Nashik Road, said, “I travel through Gangapur Road every day for work by a city bus. If I take a bus at 11 am from Nashik Road to Shalimar, it takes more than 30 minutes to cover around 8 km from Bytco to Dwarka.”