They said thousands of trees have been cut to make way for six-laning the national highway to Delhi. "The famous groves of Vrindavan have disappeared. The whole Braj area which was surrounded by dense forests is fast losing its green covers as frentic construction activity continues all around," said river activist Madhumangal Shukla of Vrindavan.

Recently, a two member committee presented its report before the apex court, pointing out how the state government had claimed planting 15,000 trees but on physical verification the information was found to be incorrect. The Supreme Court had directed the UP government to plant 2.58 lakh trees in stages to make up for the loss of green cover due to various developmental projects. 

A bench of justices TS Thakur and C Nagappan noted "we had some kind of hunch and our hunch has bee proved correct. Money is being eaten away and no plantation is being done. It has become a fertile ground for corruption. You are not following our order on forestation." The bench was clearly unhappy with the casual manner documents had been filed with wrong information. It found a huge gap between the target to be achieved and the actual number of trees planted.

The Taj Trapezium Zone spread over 10,040 sq km, is an eco-sensitive area with more than 40 ASI protected monuments including three world heritage sites. The apex court has been monitoring the followup action on the directives flowing from the PIL filed by eco-lawyer MC Mehta way back in 1984.

It may be recalled that the Agra DFO Lalit Verma who had filed the wrong affidavits in the apex court was suspended by the state government some months ago.

Thousands of trees have been felled in the Taj Trapezium Zone for road building in past few years, but trees have not been planted as was the commitment given in the Supreme Court while seeking permission.

For the Yamuna Expressway thousands of trees were felled. Presently thousands of trees have been chopped off for widening the Delhi-Agra national highway by the Reliance group. The work is in progress, but we have never been given the information where compensatory plantation work has been done, said eco-activist Jagan Nath Poddar. "Now the state government has begun work on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway chopping trees and cleaning up the green cover. Environmental Assessment Impact hearings have not been held and again no idea given where new green patches would be developed to compensate for the loss of trees," added Mathura's author / activist Dr. Ashok Bansal.

"In Vrindavan and Goverdhan thousands of trees have disappeared making way for new cement structures. The mythologically important forests of Braj have turned grey and brown with high rise buildings," said journalist and activist Pavan Gautam. The whole Braj Bhoomi is under severe stress of rapid urbanisation. "Sri Krishna was a great lover of nature, the trees, birds and the river holding his keen interest, but now though the number of Sri Krishna bhakts and devotees from all over the world has increased to Mathura, Vrindavan and other shrines of the area, natural resources are fast depleting," lamented Vrindavan's music maestro Acharya Jaimini.