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‘Hyderabad: Green Again’ Campaign To Protect Trees
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | May 18, 2008 | 1,196 views
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
Loading ...In a tree-facing room in The Times of India building, architects, corporate consultants, former bureaucrats, IT professionals, homemakers, young students and social group representatives merged and donned a common identity, that of tree lovers, as they angrily condemned the government’s decision to hack the over three-century-old banyan at the questionable request of the US Consulate.
Responding to TOI’s ‘Hyderabad: Green Again’ campaign, tree lovers from the city on Saturday resolved to work assiduously to preserve and restore the city’s green cover by mobilizing people across the city to make Hyderabad green again.
From sharing email ids to starting an egroup to even suggesting setting up of a tree helpline, the citizen’s group turned out to be not just vociferous and bold but also determined and committed to paint Hyderabad in the shades of green. Their first demand was both pertinent and predictable for any nature lover. “All departments should freeze tree cutting in the city immediately,’’ they almost spoke in unison, lamenting the continued tree chopping in Rajendranagar with the forest department’s approval.
The GHMC had issued an order stalling tree cutting in the city but it does not apply to other departments and so tree felling has continued in the city. The group demanded for a ‘Green Plan’ for Hyderabad, that would indicate what exactly is the present and the proposed green cover of Hyderabad and how it would be developed over the years.
The group suggested that the city follow ‘integrated road development’ wherein all new road plans take into account the green cover that would line the roads at the planning stage itself. Formation of street committees for local monitoring of the area’s green cover was also strongly recommended. The group pointed out that the sanctioning authority for tree cutting is a fairly junior official and most of the time ill-equipped to question or monitor whether the tree choppers were complying with the provision of the Water Land and Tree Act (2002) such as checking whether three saplings have been planted to compensate for the chopped tree, as per the Act.
‘Road-widening no excuse to cut trees’
There is a need to review the city’s master plans that clearly indicate which roads will be widened and the trees that will be cut in the coming years, said G Srinivas, an architect and member of a group of tree-lovers which gathered at the Times House on Saturday.
He pointed out that trees needn’t be planted alongside roads that had to be widened eventually. “We can then checkmate them at a point where they may make a mistake. Why should we wait until the point when the tree has to be cut,’’ he said.
City historian and former bureaucrat V K Bawa said there must be an understanding of the city’s master plan and the zonal development plan. Besides, he pointed out that protecting trees is the job of the environment department and they cannot defend tree chopping citing road-widening as an excuse.
Karuna Gopal, president of Foundation of Futuristic Cities pointed out that the government never takes into account the “soft components’’ of road laying, essentially trees, which should be part of the plan each time a new road has to be laid. “We should try and bring to the notice of the government things that they don’t know,’’ she said.
Group members also questioned how the GHMC had arrived at the figure of planting 10 lakh saplings. “The calculation is done on per capita. What was their calculation to arrive at this figure,’’ questioned Farida Tampal, state director, WWF.
Many suggestions came up to save the green cover. Harsh Bhargava, former commodore with the Indian Navy, suggested chipko movement and community ownership of trees to protect and nurture the existing green cover, citizen activist M Mandal suggested transplanting trees and not simply chopping them.
Water expert Jasveen Jairath, who was instrumental in bringing the group of tree lovers together, said public pressure was much needed to counter the governance system. “We have very good laws but they are violated,’’ she said, adding that a people’s movement would best counter the government’s indifference to the concern of the city’s depleting green cover.
However, representations are already being made. M Veda Kumar, president, Forum for a Better Hyderabad said the body had made representations to the district collector, district forest officer, chief conservator of forests among other officials to stop tree felling in Hyderabad.
SOURCES:
Times Of India
Topics: Environment, Public Concerns, Govt Failures |
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