The long-awaited four-laning of the Srinagar-Baramulla highway is nearing completion, promising smoother traffic and better connectivity across north Kashmir. But the project has also exacted a significant environmental toll, with large stretches of the once tree-lined highway cleared of vegetation to make way for the expanded road.
A substantial portion of the four-lane project has been completed, barring two bypass stretches, Pattan and Baramulla bypass.
The expanded highway has considerably eased traffic congestion at several points.
However, thousands of trees, including poplar, mulberry and some Chinar trees, were felled to make way for the widening and allied construction works.
Though, authorities had earlier assured that the executing agency, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), would plant twice the number of trees felled during the project.
However, their has been no plantation carried out so far, causing concern among the concerned citizens.
Residents say the loss of such a large green cover could have long-term environmental consequences, particularly amid rising temperatures and increasingly erratic weather patterns in Kashmir.
Environmentalists and residents say trees lining highways serve a far greater purpose than beautification. They absorb carbon dioxide, filter dust and pollutants, provide shade, help regulate surface temperatures and offer vital habitat for local biodiversity.
“The Srinagar-Baramulla highway once presented a beautiful picture, with trees lining both sides of the road. It provided shade and made the journey pleasant. Today, much of that green cover has disappeared,” said Basharat Ahmad, an environmentalist from Baramulla district.
He said the loss of trees was particularly concerning at a time when climate change was already altering local weather conditions.
“When temperatures are rising, cutting thousands of trees without restoring the green cover can only add to the environmental stress,” he said.
The issue has also been raised over the narrow median constructed at several stretches of the highway which puts a question mark on the development of tree plantation.
Locals had hoped the central divider could be developed as a green belt, helping restore some of the lost vegetation.
“There seems to be no initiative to create green space in the middle of the road. The narrow divider indicates that environmental restoration was not given adequate consideration in the design,” said Aijaz Ahmad, another resident from Baramulla town.
For residents, the four-laning may improve mobility, but they say development should not come at the cost of the region’s already shrinking green cover.
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