Nearly 35,000 trees will have to be felled to make way for widening of the 223-km long National Highway 218 that passes through Bijapur, Humnabad and Gulbarga, affecting the already thin forest cover in the region.

Bijapur, Gulbarga and Bidar have a negligible forest area of three per cent. In such a scenario felling of trees will have an adverse effect on the annual rainfall, temperature and flora and fauna in the three districts, say environmentalists.