GREEN ROADS
Road Reserves & Arboriculture:
In Sikkim, the roads are classified as National Highway, State Highways, Major District roads and other district roads which are under the Border Road Organization (Project Swastik), State P.W.D. (Road & Bridges) and Rural Development Department. In addition the roads in urban areas are maintained by Urban Development & Housing Department.
As per the Sikkim Forests, Water Courses and Road Reserve (Preservation and Protection) Act 1988, Chapter –IV, sub-section (4) & (5) the road reserve in relation to the National Highway and other highways has been well described. The road reserved referred to in sub-sections (4) & (5) shall be under the administrative control of Forest Department as if it were a forest constituted under this Act.
During the Kings time the Road Reserve & Arboriculture was given very high importance and as per the notification No.3, dated 26.4.05 & No. 878, dt.15.4.09 the Road Reserve and Arboriculture were defined as under:
(A) Reserve: The attention of all Kazis, etc., was drawn to the old rule that 50 feet of land on each side of the public roads is reserved as a Road Reserve and that any one found cutting trees or cultivating within this area would be punished. It was added that steps would be taken against those persons who were found to be disregarding this rule and punishment by fine and confiscation would be dealt out to them if, within one week of this notice, anyone was found to have encroached upon this Reserve by cultivating thereon or to have destroyed any trees therein.
(B) Arboriculture: At a Council Meeting held on the 30th March,1909 at the Residency it was resolved that trees should be planted by the roadside throughout Sikkim to provide shade for travelers.
Accordingly all Kazis, Thikadars and Lamas are hereby directed to plant the following trees on the roadsides within their respective elakas:- 1.Tuni, 2. Kimbu, 3. Sakna., 4. Okrot., 5. Champ., 6. Buk.
2. Any of the above six kinds may be planted, but no other kinds are to be planted.
3. New trees need not be planted where there are trees already.
4. Seedlings must be planted, not seeds, and they must be fenced securely against goats and cattle. The trees must be planted 9 (nine) paces (Kadam) apart. They will belong to the Kazi, Thikadar, Lama or bustiwallas who plant them, but must not be cut down without the permission of His Highness the Maharaja.
The State of Sikkim has been primarily concerned with the conservation & protection of “Green Sector” in the state. “Without adequate environmental protection, development is undermined; without development, resources will be inadequate for needed investments and environmental protection will fail”. (The Word Bank, 1992).
In the State, though the Greenery along the road side is good but it needs to be
enhanced to the maximum level to protect the roads from landslides and slips,
sinking and also to maintain the aesthetic beauty. It will also reduce land
pollution, water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution as well. The
Tourism development equally requires good roads along with the aesthetic cover.
There is need to have the aesthetic plantation along all the road sides,
development of pockets as small parks, water harvesting centers, and all streams
and water falls have to be well protected.
The State of Sikkim, by virtue of its topography is connected with only one transport mode i.e road transport. The other modes of transport viz. Rail, Air and Waterways are not available in this state. Keeping in pace with the development of the state, the Government of India helped in preparation of a master plan for road development in this region. The plan includes construction of new roads and bridges, up-gradation of narrow roads, road development in as many villages as possible and replacement of old weak bridges. With the rapid development of road network in the state, increased traffic facilities are on demand. With this objective in view, Sikkim Nationalized Transport, a departmental commercial undertaking was put into operation in 1955 to meet the growing demands of passengers and goods traffic. Since then, substantial achievement has been made in developing infrastructure in terms of number of buses and trucks in the fleet, coverage of passenger traffic and goods traffic. It is seen that on an average 17% growth in goods traffic and 16% growth in-passenger traffic has taken places during the seventh plan period. The road development had achieved a significant mark in extending the road networks in the state to the extent of 1515 kms by the end of 1991-92. In the year 2002-03 the road length has been increased to 2750 kms (SPWD=1856 kms. & Border Road Organization=894 kms), which includes the construction of new surfaced roads and surfacing of unsurfaced roads.
The basic objectives of the creation of the aesthetic forestry along the both sides of the roads are as follows: -
i) To create green belt and avenues for meeting aesthetic recreational needs to the people
ii) To beautify the areas for tourist attraction.
iii) To violence of rain and check splash soil erosion in the uphill side by developing tree and ground cover.
iv) To reduce the surface run-off discharge and checking erosion in the downhill side,
v) To create a store house of genetic diversity by planting all the indigenous trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, creepers, conifers and green foliages including fruits and medicinal plants.
vi) To reduce the encroachment of roadside areas.
vii) To provide shade to the pedestrian
viii) To increase local precipitation due to their aerographic and micro-climatic effects and create conditions favorable for the condensation of the clouds.
ix) To reduce temperature and increase humidity.
x) To reduce noise pollution to the neighboring household population.
xi) To attract the large numbers of birds, squirrels etc.
The main components of the projects in brief are:
Pre-Planting Survey, Production of Quality planting materials, Protection, Creation of Roadside Plantation, Creation and development of Recreational garden, Development of Natural Waterfalls, Development of Natural Heritage Garden, Creation & Development of View Points, Creation of Wild Orchid Plantation on the existing trees along the roadside, Joint Forest Management (Participatory Forest Management), Soil conservation and protective works, Maintenance of Plantation, Monitoring & Evaluation.
The Total length of the road to be covered under the project would be approx. 735 kms including National Highway and various state highways. The total cost of the project for 10 (Ten) years i.e. from 2003-2004 to 2011-2012 is estimated to be about Rs. 1856.00 Lakhs including all components with integrated approach. The average cost per km comes to about Rs. 2. 52 Lakhs. The State Government has given the approval in principle and launched the programme on 5th June 2003 “World Environment Day” at Temi-Tarku area in South District. The programme would be implemented with the active participation of the People, Panchayats, JFM, EDC & WDC Committees of the area and they would be given complete responsibility.