New Delhi, An expert panel of the environment ministry has recommended the grant of environment clearance to a 235-km greenfield expressway connecting Varanasi and Kolkata, which requires the diversion of more than 103 hectares of reserved and protected forest land in West Bengal. Environment ministry’s expert panel clears Varanasi to Kolkata expressway A part of the proposed National Highways Authority of India project, which involves the construction of a four-to-six lane expressway and costs ₹9,250 crore, will also pass through a tiger landscape. The details of the project were discussed at the 444th meeting of the expert panel, known as the expert appraisal committee , which took place between April 23 and April 24. The project will run through the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Pashchim Mednipur, Hoogli and Howrah, and will require cutting of 40,000 trees in non-forest areas and 10,000 in forest areas, according to the minutes of the meeting. While the Jangal Mahal Elephant Corridor is located 7.75 km to the south of the project, “the elephant corridors are crossing the present highway …