Uttarakhand High Court
2 8 Th M Arch vs Union Of I Ndia & Ot Hers on 28 March, 2025
I N TH E H I GH COURT OF UTTARAKH AN D
AT N AI N I TAL
H ON 'BLE TH E CH I EF JUSTI CE SRI G. N AREN D AR
AN D
H ON 'BLE SRI JUSTI CE ALOK M AH RA
W RI T PETI TI ON ( PI L) N O. 3 7 OF 2 0 2 5
2 8 TH M ARCH , 2 0 2 5
Reenu Paul ...... Pet it ioner
Versus
Union of I ndia & ot hers ...... Respondent s
Counsel for t he pet it ioner : Mr. Abhij ay Negi, Ms. Snigdha
Tiwari and Arm aan Prat ap Singh,
learned counsels
Counsel for t he respondent s : Mr. Raj esh Sharm a, learned
St anding Counsel for t he Union of
I ndia / respondent No 1
: Mr. B.S. Parihar, learned St anding
Counsel for St at e of Ut t arakhand /
respondent Nos. 2 and 3
Th e Cou r t m a de t h e follow in g:
ORD ER: ( pe r H on 'ble Th e Ch ie f Ju st ice Sr i G. N a r e n da r )
I m ple a dm e nt Applica t ion ( I .A. N o. 0 2 of 2 0 2 5 )
1. I .A. No. 02 of 2025 is preferred by t he pet it ioner t o
array t he Proj ect proponent s, i.e., Nat ional Highways
Aut horit y of I ndia as a part y respondent .
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2. The NHAI being a necessary part y, t he applicat ion
is allowed. Pet it ioner t o am end t he cause t it le, and
furnish copy of t he writ pet it ion t o t he learned counsel
for t he NHAI .
W r it Pe t it ion ( PI L) N o. 3 7 of 2 0 2 5
3. Heard t he learned counsel for t he pet it ioner Mr.
Abhij ay Negi, t he learned counsel for respondent NHAI
Mr. Naresh Pant assist ed by Mr. Raunak Pant , and t he
learned St anding Counsel for t he St at e of Ut t arakhand
Mr. B.S. Parihar.
4. The PCCF ( Wild Life) Mr. R.K. Mishra is virt ually
present . Mr. Pankaj Maurya, Proj ect Direct or, NHAI
along wit h Mr. Rahul Meena, Manager Technical, NHAI
are also present .
5. The Court has conveyed it s apprehension wit h
regard to m aint aining t he widt h of t he Elephant
Corridors while execut ing t he proj ect and const ruct ing
t he roads. I n ot her w ords, it is relevant t o ensure t hat
t he proj ect does not prove disast rous t o t he fauna and
t he pachyderm s, t he big cat s like t igers and leopards,
and sm all anim als like t he hyenas, foxes, t he deer et c.
which populat e t he forest t hrough which t he road is
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proposed. I t is also a m at t er of record t hat t he forest is
populat ed wit h a huge num ber of rept iles. Keeping t his
in view, t he DPR appears t o have provided for elevat ed
const ruct ion of cert ain port ions of t he road and providing
of culvert s, box culvert s for t he big cat s and sm all
anim als, and hum e pipes for rept iles.
6. The Proj ect Direct or, NHAI would subm it t hat t he
hum e pipes are provided from a dist ance of 60 m et ers t o
260 m et ers and t he box culvert s are provided
int erm it t ent ly. I n all, 06 box culvert s are planned along
wit h 30 num ber of hum e pipes of 1200 m m diam et er.
The 06 box culvert s on t he elevat ed roads and hum e
pipes are provided for t he 9.7 Km . of forest st ret ch t o
facilit at e t he m ovem ent of pachyderm s, t he big cat s, t he
ot her anim als, rept iles & am phibians, and ot her sm aller
fauna. I t is also st at ed t hat fencing and a green hedge
along t he borders of t he road is planned.
7. The Court has suggest ed t hat t he fencing be
com plim ent ed w it h a cover of wire m esh t o prevent
rept iles from com ing t o t he carriage way as it is com m on
knowledge t hat t he rept iles oft en prefer t he roads which
are warm during t he night s on account of t he const ant
m ovem ent of t raffic and t he exposure t o sound, t hus
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result ing in accident al deat h of t he rept iles. Adm it t edly,
t he scope of t he hearing is t o ensure t he safet y of t he
anim als and t o m inim ize t he cut t ing of t he t rees.
8. I t is subm it t ed t hat in all 3357 t rees, and 1085
num ber of saplings, have been ident ified. I n so far as
t he saplings are concerned, t he repercussions are
m inim al. That in respect of t he t rees t he repercussion
can be felt as it leads t o t he denudat ion of t he forest
cover and w ill affect t he anim als populat ing t hat part of
t he area. Hence, we direct t he Proj ect Direct or,
Rishikesh- Bhaniyawala Four Lane Road Proj ect t o consult
t he Forest Research I nst it ut e in Dehradun, and we also
t ake t his opport unit y t o direct t he Forest Depart m ent
and, m ore part icularly, Mr. R.K. Mishra, t he PCCF ( Wild
Life) t o share his expert ise and have j oint m eet ings w it h
t he FRI and device ways and m eans t o save m axim um
num ber of t rees by t ransplant ing t hem t o ot her part s of
t he forest , m ore part icularly, in and around t he area
where t he road proj ect is proposed. This is in order t o
ensure t hat t he green coverage does not get drast ically
alt ered.
9. The Proj ect Direct or, NHAI and t he PCCF ( Wild
Life) shall, aft er t he m eet ing w it h t he FRI , subm it a list
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of t he t rees t hat can be saved by t ransplant ing t hem .
That apart , a st at em ent shall also be m ade regarding t he
passage t hat would be available for t he pachyderm s, and
also assure t his Court t hat t he widt h of t he Elephant
Corridors will not be com prom ised at any of t he Elephant
Corridors report ed in our order. The Proj ect Direct or,
NHAI shall also look int o t he ruling of t he Apex Court
rendered in H ospit a lit y Associa t ion of M u du m a la i Vs I n
de fe n ce of Envir onm e n t a nd An im a ls and ot h e r s,
( 2 0 2 0 ) 1 0 Su pr e m e Cou r t Ca se s 5 8 9 .
10. On t he request of Mr. Pankaj Maurya, Proj ect
Direct or, NHAI , list t he m at t er on 04.04.2025.
________________
G. N AREN D AR, C.J.
____________ ALOK M AH RA, J.
Dt : 28 TH MARCH, 2025 Negi