Guwahati: Gauhati high court has directed ministry of environment, forest and climate change and the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) to file an affidavit stating if all the prerequisites for starting the Guwahati Ring Road Project have been met.Chief justice Ashutosh Kumar and justice Arun Dev Choudhury directed advocate Girin Pegu, who appeared for the ministry and NBWL, to state the reasons in the affidavit if the prerequisites have not been met and by what time it shall be fulfilled.The court was hearing a PIL filed by Arkasish Chaliha and Mahesh Deka alleging that the mandatory forest clearance required under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for felling trees has not been granted by the Centre. They dubbed the act as post-haste and said if it is allowed to go through, it will cause irreparable damage before any proper scrutiny by the concerned authority is made.Meanwhile, additional advocate general PN Goswami submitted before the court that no trees shall be felled.The court will hear the matter on May 19.The court in its first hearing of the PIL last month noted that the petitioners, in principle, do not question the Guwahati Ring Road project. It is a massive 121 km highway project around the city of Guwahati, with a projected cost of around Rs 6000 crore, to be constructed by the National Highways Authority of India.The petitioners pointed out in their PIL that a concession agreement was signed in Apr, 2025 for undertaking and completion of the project, and the work includes a long bypass road requiring widening of the existing roads and construction of a bridge over the Brahmaputra.The petitioners said they have not questioned the necessity for traffic management; but, according to them, the road which has been carved out for construction of the bypass, allegedly cuts through the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary and the surrounding eco-sensitive zone.The court had stated, “While the necessity of construction of the ring road cannot be denied, at the same time, the importance of preserving the sanctuary can be assessed from the fact that the area is home to elephants, gibbons, leopards, pangolin and other animals. The area also covers other forests and the elephant corridor in the vicinity.”
