Dehradun, Dec. 13 -- Uttarakhand high court on Friday directed the state government to submit a detailed report on the success rate of reforestation efforts during the Sahastradhara road expansion project in Dehradun. The order came while the court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the proposed felling of more than 4,369 trees in the Shivalik Elephant Reserve for the project, which spanned between Bhaniyawala in Dehradun and Rishikesh. The bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and justice Alok Mahra issued the direction after Abhijay Negi, counsel of petitioner Reenu Paul, a Dehradun-based environmental activist, argued that tree transplantation efforts along the Sahastradhara Road have recorded poor survival rates. Negi said the Forest Research Institute (FRI) informed the bench that it intended to transplant 700 trees out of the 4,369 trees affected by the project. Negi said he strongly opposed the move, citing past examples. "We showed photographs of the poor condition of transplanted trees on Sahastradhara Road. The court took note of this and directed the PWD secretary to appear in the next hearing with a comprehensive report on the survival and health of these transplanted trees," Negi said. The next hearing is scheduled for December 19. The PIL had sought directions to quash the proposal to cut more than 3,300 trees inside the Shivalik Elephant Reserve, which spans 5,405 sq km across eight districts. The reserve forms a crucial corridor connecting the western and eastern parts of Rajaji Tiger Reserve across the Ganga and has been identified as a critical elephant habitat by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The petitioner argued that widening the stretch between Bhaniyawala and Rishikesh would fragment the elephant corridor, increase human-elephant conflict and irreversibly damage forest cover. According to the June 2023 elephant census, the state has 2026 elephants, compared with 1,559 in 2012 and 1,839 in 2017....