Gone are the days when Haridwar used to be a well–planned, clean and serene city with broader roads. However, Haridwar is not the only place in Uttarakhand where clean and green areas are being transformed into unplanned settlements. People who are enamoured of what things used to be are inclined to lay the blame at the doorsteps of the district officers who are supposed to be either actively abetting such things or conniving with them for vested interests. 

If the official data of the district horticulture department is to believed, the department has given permission for only 489 trees to be felled for several reasons in 2014-15. However, what is being seen on the ground is that in several areas like laksar, Bahadrabad, Pathri, Roshnabad, Dhanuri, Jwalapur and Jagjeetpur — all under the district — at least two trees are being felled by the builders almost daily on an average, in defiance of the official norms.

Mafia-police nexus is compounding things. Things happen this way that a large garden gets converted into plots of colony overnight with the help of JCB. District horticulture department earned Rs1,22,250 in form of NSC while the sum they received on the count of unauthorised  felling of trees was Rs1,59,500 by way of fine. It was found that 101 such tress had been felled across the district in contravention of norms. The highest figure comes from Bahadrabad area of the district where 25 Mango trees were axed in a single day.

These are the figures which are recorded officially in Haridwar district. However,  sources said over two thousand trees have been felled with the support of some departmental officials. The unscrupulous builders took the short cut through bribe as the official process consumes time.  Consequently, the market is full with all kinds of woods.

During 2014-15, horticulture department lodged only nine First Information Reports (FIR) in different police stations of the district in which cutting of 240 trees (mango, neem, peepal and jack fruit) has been mentioned.

In an FIR lodged against Ved Singh Yadav, son of Vishamber Singh of Jwalapur area, it was said that 100 trees were felled in a day. Till date, no progress had been reported regarding the case. This despite the fact that there are 10 horticulture inspectors posted across the district.

It is pertinent to mention that before seeking the permission, the applicant has to submit the National Saving Certificate (NSC) of Rs250 for one tree in favour of District Horticulture Officer followed by a consent letter promising double the number of plants to be planted by the applicant asking for the permission.

However, such norms are seldom adhered to with those posted to ensure things conveniently choosing to look the other way. District Horticulture Officer Amar Singh said that previously permission of cutting the trees were granted by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), but via letter no — Forest and Environment section 3, 927/X-3-2012/21(08)/2010 of dated 30.11.2012  of  the state government, power was transferred to District Horticulture Officer of the district.

If the official data was to be believed, only 8415.12 hectare of land remained for horticulture use across the district as per the recent survey just completed by district horticulture department of Haridwar for 2014-15-a figure that tells about a decline as compared to the previous financial year survey.

Singh said that they do not  have enough resources to control the menace during the night hours. These works are carried out mostly during the night hours. “For this, we have already sent written request to Directorate Horticulture,” he added. Senior environmentalist Prof Dinesh Bhatt of Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya warned if the illegal and unplanned things continue unabated the city will face unbalanced ecosystem which would  threaten  the coming generations.

Besides, many trees are also being axed by forest department on one excuse or the other.  Other departments are also following suit with impunity, citing  development. “The question that  remains for us to ponder over is whether we should go for such development the cost of which would prove dear for the upcoming generations,” he said.