The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to include local citizen representatives in a monitoring committee overseeing the Chevella highway expansion. This decision follows a successful campaign by environmentalists, who fought to protect 765 banyan trees along the highway. The NHAI has agreed to modify the road alignment to accommodate these trees, while permitting the translocation of 150 others. The original plan proposed the felling of over 900 banyans and 10,000 other trees. The NGT's order also accepted suggestions to save additional trees identified by the Telangana Forest department. Furthermore, the NHAI will now implement a new translocation model, moving trees only a few meters away instead of to a distant location. The project will also include native trees in its compensatory afforestation efforts.