Uttarakhand forest department approves felling 6,822 trees across 41.92 hectares in Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone for 20.6-km Char Dham road widening from Bhaironghati to Jhala, reigniting backlash after August 2025 Dharali floods exposed landslide risks; clashes with PM’s ‘Plant4Mother’ campaign planting 118 crore trees, as locals tie raksha sutras in protest while officials defend strategic needs with MoEFCC oversight.
Hills Under Siege
The Uttarakhand forest department’s December 6, 2025, clearance for road widening in the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone (BESZ) has thrust the fragile Himalayan ecosystem back into the spotlight, approving the sacrifice of 6,822 trees including venerable deodars over 41.92 hectares along the 20.6-km stretch from Bhaironghati to Jhala.
This decision comes mere months after devastating flash floods ravaged Dharali in August 2025, where a Supreme Court-appointed committee warned that such interventions on unstable moraine terrain exacerbate landslide vulnerabilities, potentially endangering downstream villages and pilgrims en route to Gangotri.
A senior forest official justified the approvals, emphasising that the project received nods from the MoEFCC monitoring committee, underwent stringent environmental impact assessments, and serves critical pilgrimage and defence connectivity in a border region, with compensatory afforestation mandated to offset losses.
Critics, however, decry the haste, pointing to the zone’s designation as eco-sensitive since 2018 to protect the Bhagirathi River and Gangotri Glacier, now under fresh central study orders amid melting concerns.
Protests from the Ground Up
Local resistance peaked on December 7, 2025, when residents near Harsil tied sacred raksha sutras to doomed old-growth deodars, performing prayers in a poignant bid to safeguard trees they view as lifelines against nature’s wrath.
Activists from the long-standing Save Bhagirathi-Ganga movement highlighted the Jangla-Dharali stretch’s 10-km disaster-prone profile, urging adherence to Supreme Court directives for comprehensive vulnerability mapping before any axe falls.
This outcry humanises the stakes: families in flood-hit Dharali recount homes buried under debris, livelihoods shattered, and a growing fear that widened roads ballooning from 12m to 24m in places strip away the very vegetation stabilising steep slopes.
The broader 900-km Char Dham all-weather highway, linking Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri, has already seen approvals for 12,995 trees on another segment alone, fuelling demands for bio-engineering alternatives like retaining walls over blanket clearances.
Environmentalists warn that post-2013 Kedarnath deluge patterns repeat, with Geological Survey data logging a 30% landslide surge tied to construction, imperilling communities who coexist with these mountains.
Green Pledges Versus Ground Realities
The approvals starkly contradict national afforestation drives, notably the Prime Minister’s ‘Plant4Mother’ initiative launched on World Environment Day 2024, which rallied citizens to plant one tree per mother, targeting 140 crore saplings by March 2025 achieving 118 crore by February amid degraded land restoration goals.
Yet, Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh lead in forest diversions since 2021, clearing 2,484 hectares, sparking Rajya Sabha debates on ecology versus development where MPs decried tree-planting hypocrisy amid climate crises.
Historical flashpoints abound: 2023 saw 25,000-tree clearances along the highway despite Supreme Court scrutiny, while the National Green Tribunal probes illegal felling, and earlier parliamentary queries flagged Forest Conservation Act violations.
Compensatory measures promise sapling plantations elsewhere, but experts argue young trees cannot replicate mature roots’ erosion control in a warming Himalayas, where retreating glaciers like Gangotri amplify flood perils.
This pattern underscores a systemic tension, as December 16, 2025, reports from the project’s ex-chairman label it a “catastrophe” pusher, with calls for narrower alignments to preserve biodiversity hotspots.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Such contradictions erode trust in India’s green commitments, demanding empathetic leadership that harmonises progress with nature’s sanctity prioritising hill folk’s safety through tech-driven audits, community vetoes on clearances, and ecology-led redesigns that foster coexistence over conquest.
By nurturing dialogue among policymakers, scientists, activists, and locals, the nation can pioneer resilient infrastructure embodying kindness, sustainability, and shared stewardship for generations ahead.
