Over 6,300 trees of 34 varieties to be felled to widen National Highway 66 in Kerala

KASARAGOD: Around 6,360 trees — many of them more than a century old — will be felled for the widening of the National Highway 66 from Thalappady on the Karnataka-Kasaragod border to Kozhikode, found a survey by the Central University of Kerala.

The trees on the 240km stretch are a sanctuary for 32 species of birds, one species of squirrel, two species of fruit bats and the Malabar civet, said Dr P A Sinu, ecologist and assistant professor of the Department of Zoology in the Central University.