Days after the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) dragged the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to the apex court alleging delays in granting of forest clearance, the ministry has granted forest clearance to the 555-km Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad National Highway widening project that had first sparked the conflict.

While the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has recommended the project, it is not amused with NHAI's rather public finger pointing at MoEF. Minutes of the FAC meeting held on January 21-22 observe how MoEF has been "blamed unpleasantly" for delays.