05 December,2009 08:40 AM IST | | Agencies
Himachal Pradesh could lose as many as 20,000 trees, thanks to apparent lapses on the part of the state forest department, which has given the green signal to a power transmission corridor in a highly eco-sensitive zone.
The forest department has recently allowed Jaypee Powergrid Ltd (JPL), a joint venture of the Jaiprakash Hydro-Power Ltd and the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, to lay the power transmission corridor from Karcham in Kinnaur district to Abdulhapur in Haryana.
"The forest department was caught in a piquant situation when it allowed JPL to lay the transmission lines from the left bank of the Satluj river, which is under a thick forest cover, whereas the right bank is almost barren," said a forest official, on condition of anonymity.
Rs 932 Cr
The cost of the 230-km long power transmission corridor
