Development and environment conservation exercise can go hand in hand if there is a will to keep things in harmony. Successful re-plantation of over 1,000 trees along with the widening of a road under State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand limited (SIIDCUl), Sitarganj area, buttresses the view. Such a scale of tree re-location is without any precedent here, claim the environmental experts.
“It is commonly assumed that developmental activities must be carried on at the expense of environment, the flora and fauna. But the officials concerned of the Terai-east forest division have proved this notion wrong. This augurs well for the State. Hope, the example would be emulated everywhere in the State,” an observer said.
“The re-planted trees are now growing fast to the delight of all concerned. The area turning lush green speaks volumes of the ideal mode of development,” said NC Pant, SDO, Terai-east forest division under whose jurisdiction SIIDCUl, Sitarganj falls. “It was a challenging task. We took it up and relocated the trees safely. We believe this is first of its kind initiative,” he added.
Had the forest division not taken the initiative, all such trees would have been lost by now with the widening of the particular stretch of the road. The widening of road in SIIDCUl, Sitarganj, is part of industrial reforms being carried out in Sitarganj under SIIDCUl Phase-II. Since industrial reforms under SIIDCUI Phase-II are under way in Sitarganj the forest officials believe that the model of encouraging relocation of trees instead of cutting them down should be carried on.
The officials concerned of the SIIDCUl, Sitarganj had sought permission from the Terai-east forest division for cutting of trees for industrial expansion under the SIIDCUl pahse II last year. The forest officials then stepped in, asking for the relocation of such trees at another place. The environmental experts are of the view that replantation of adult trees is a tough task. “The initiative is really worthy of praise and evolution at a time when development means crushing of environment,” one of them said.