Agartala, May 22: Tripura Forest Minister Animesh Debbarma has expressed serious reservations over the ongoing highway and road widening projects across the state, warning that further expansion beyond double lanes poses a grave threat to Tripura’s already shrinking forest cover.
Speaking at the International Day for Biological Diversity 2025 celebration and a voluntary blood donation camp organized by the Tripura SCATFORM Project and Tripura Biodiversity Board at Pragna Bhavan on Thursday, Debbarma said, “Tripura’s highways have already been upgraded to double lanes, and that should be sufficient. Any further widening will lead to unnecessary deforestation in a state with limited geographical area.”
Highlighting Tripura’s rich biodiversity and natural oxygen-producing capacity, the Minister said he would be writing to the Prime Minister urging a reconsideration of road expansion projects in forest areas. “We can be an oxygen-rich state if we preserve our forests. I will request the Prime Minister not to apply the same developmental lens to Tripura as other larger regions. Our green cover must be protected,” he said.
Debbarma suggested alternative infrastructure solutions such as constructing flyovers on existing highways and tunnels through hills instead of cutting down forest land for road development. “Tunnel routes through hilly terrains would prevent the destruction of surface-level forest cover,” he added.
The Minister also mentioned that Chaitanya Murti, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) responsible for forest land diversion, is under pressure from both the state Chief Secretary and the central government to approve forest land for infrastructure projects. However, Debbarma noted that such files are currently under close examination, warning that their approval would further reduce forest cover, diminish oxygen output, and endanger biodiversity.
“I have listened to the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat. Now, I too will raise mere mann ki baat—that Tripura’s development must follow a different model, one that safeguards our forests,” Debbarma asserted.
Tripura originally had more than 62% of its land under forest cover. However, recent Government of India assessments indicate a reduction of around 100 square kilometers—a trend the state government is attempting to reverse through afforestation drives, strengthening forest protection and a drone-based forest survey.
Top forest officials and representatives from various externally aided projects attended Thursday’s event, which underscored the government’s growing concern over environmental sustainability amid rapid development.
