Ludhiana, Dec. 12 -- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stayed further axing of trees under the modernisation plan of the Minor Canal from Fatehpur Awana to Ayali Khurd until the next date of hearing.

Activists Kapil Arora and Kuldeep Singh Khaira from the Public Action Committee (PAC), an NGO, had submitted that the region office (Chandigarh) of the Union ministry of environment had granted approval for change in land use for concreting the channel, permitting the felling of 391 well-grown trees. The petitioners approached the NGT seeking quashing of the order on the grounds that viable alternate methods of concreting-which would have saved over 350 trees-were never examined.

Another member of the PAC, Jaskirat Singh, pointed out th...