New Delhi, Dec 2 (TIWN) The Supreme Court on Wednesday wondered why felling of trees was necessary to widen roads or to keep them aligned in a straight line, and suggested that roads could instead be zigzag, which would help reduce speed of vehicles and save lives by avoiding accidents.

The court's suggestion came while hearing a plea by the Uttar Pradesh government for felling 2,940 trees for the Krishna Goverdhan road project in Mathura. The court asked the state government to evaluate trees in terms of the oxygen level that they would have given in their lifetime.

The court said that the though PWD assured that they will compensate by planting the same number trees in another area so that there was no loss to the environment in general, it is obvious that there cannot be compensatory reforestation if 100-year-old tree is cut down, the court added.   "It is not possible for us to accept a compensation in merely arithmetical terms especially when there is no statement forthcoming from Uttar Pradesh or PWD as to nature of trees whether they are classified as shrubs or large trees," the bench said.