Now, the entire globe is on a plantation spree. However, in Odisha most of us while have been bitten by the same bug, we do not seem to have enough knowledge on how the plantation has to be carried out, the species to be planted in an area keeping in view the suitability of the climate and soil and most important of all, how the trees are to be taken care of till they grow full-fledged.
Even, the employees of tree planting organizations of the State, mostly do not know, where what types of trees are to be planted and what are the purposes to be met with them.
If we take the case of Bhubaneswar Smart City, the roadside plantations are going on without the choice of species and the purposes for which they are being carried out. In a city or town, the roadside plantations and other types of plantations are to be carried out particularly on choice of species and the purpose based on bio-aesthetic values, which can improve the landscape and favour biodiversity of the region. The planter or the organization which is involved in planting operation should have sufficient knowledge on landscape management. But as it is seen, the plantation is carried out within the capital city rather arbitrarily without looking into the factors or the reasons of planting.
The bio-aesthetic factor means the decorative value of particular plants, their showy flowers and foliages. It should be an evergreen plant and a middle sized tree and also in no case should be accident prone plant. It should have maximum foliages to absorb heat, sound and dust, and also should not have shallow root systems, which can cause accident on the thrust of wind blow and for soil erosion. All such plants should be ecology- based and support the micro-climate and also the regional biodiversity. The biodiversity of a region can be made sound by encouraging local flora and fauna. Especially, the local birds, rodents, reptiles, lizards etc. should find home and food for their substances. As it is seen, the tree planting operations within the city are going on with stress on species which are mostly fast growing trees, having shallow root-systems, brittle and deciduous.
These plants are easy to raise and to get prizes. As this is observed mostly, the trees like Kadamba, Krushnachuda, Radha Chuda,Spathodia and Chakunda etc are planted in the roadside which are always damage prone and liable to be uprooted when there is gale. We should learn from the devastating effects of Super Cyclone in 1999 when the whole capital city became treeless including the costal zones. The Silvicultural characters of the plants should be known to the planters and that is the prime consideration for raising large scale plantations to prevent climate change.
Ecological imbalance leads to climate change and climate disasters. We should understand it correctly and fully. The large scale tree plantations and mono-culture beyond the principles of eco-climatic sustainability cannot solve our problems. The multi storey plantations based on ecological principles to support multiple purposes like sustainability of biodiversity are the right way of preventing the climate change and the landscape managements.
Now the 67th Vana Mohotsav week is going on. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik claimed that we have 34.13 per cent of forest lands as against our total land mass of Odisha. Similarly, we have acquired 1.79 per cent of forest lands within the span last two years to our credit.
And, within the ensuing financial year, we will raise tree plantations over 5,27,302 lakh hectares of land. Roadside avenue plantations will be carried out over 5,100 hectares of land. Altogether 8.77 crore seedlings will be planted within the tree planting ritual. Besides, 5.70 crore seedling of different species are to be distributed among the agricultural farm owners and people. On July 4 last, a total of 40 lakh seedlings were planted, and during 2016-17, a total of 17 lakh seedlings will be planted in 114 towns of the State. This is absolutely a good planning provided everything ends well.
For, there are always glaring gaps between planning and execution. Invariably, corruption cases in the Odisha Forest Department and other planting organizations which do the tree planting operations through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) are coming to public notices through different media. It is also listened that the distribution of seedlings to the people and the farmers is also bungled by the field employees with the very knowledge of their higher bosses, which is highly professional dishonesty. Such things can only happen, when weak supervision of field tasks is mounted. The proper supervision and timely stock taking of nursery stocks and planted lands by the supervisory authorities can only bring the solution.
Agricultural Minister of Nehru regime, KM Munshi, who first gave the slogan for Vana Mahotsav during 1950, might not have ever imagined corruption in the name of the scheme. The Van Mahotsav means ritual of plant communities, where the plants or the plant communities are worshiped as they provide sustainable existence not only for men, but also for regional animals and birds. Before independence of India and during British regime, the tree plantations were also done under the name of commercial plantations. The teak and Mehogani trees, including bamboo plantations, were carried out not only in Odisha forest lands, but also throughout India converting miscellaneous forests to get better revenues.
Teak, Eucalyptus trees, Cashew, Acacia, and bamboo forests were raised artificially to fulfill the commercial gain. The foreign species like Eucalyptus and Acacia were brought from Australia, the smallest continent and the cashew-nut plants from tropical America were also brought and planted in India and in Odisha. The plantation of the species worked wonders as they were very effective in the Indian soil and climate. Silviculture was the thoroughly commercialized. There was bitter conflict between economy and ecology, which started from Nehru’s period just after independence. The climatic setback was started from those days as commerce and industries were given upper hand.
Munshi could foresee that the Indian ecology cannot resist such commercial thrust. So he advocated for Van Mahotsav which means not only of tree plantations, but also for preservation and conservation of natural ecological systems, which our present democratic administration is forgetting. The democracy is for all, where every creature has right to grow naturally in a given set of climatic conditions.
Our forefathers are the masters of preservation and conservations. Our Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that a total of 2,160 holy groves have been located in our State. Those are known as “Jahira” (tribal name). A grove is an abode of village deity, where such community deities are worshipped by the villagers for peaceful co-existence of village community. The “Jahira” is the representative or the sample plots of local eco system; where plant communities are entertained by the village communities. The writer remembers when the Forest Department staff started planting of exotic species like Eucalyptus and Acacia in Karanjia Forest Division in 1982, the tribal communities protested it. They insisted to plant indigenous and ecologically supportive species in their areas.
As sources say crores and crores of rupees under Compensatory Afforestation Programme are pending with the State Government for carrying out plantations in tribal lands. The Management and Planning Authority (AMPA) of such funds should encourage the plantation of indigenous species by roping in indigenous people. The State Government has estimated to spend Rs 1,170.02 crore under Ama Jangal Yojana (AJY). This amount has to be mostly spent in tribal lands.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)