While the Centre has envisioned tree plantation on thousands of hectares of land area under the Namami Gange programme, a considerable number of green Deodar trees have been marked for the axe in the area situated between the place of Ganga’s origin in Gangotri and Harshil in Uttarkashi district. The trees are said to have been marked for cutting to make way for the planned widening of the national highway to Gangotri in the district.
According to Uttarkashi district-based environmental activist Suresh Bhai, the area in question from Gangotri to Harshil in Uttarkashi district has not yet recovered fully from the destruction caused by forest fires in the not too distant past. Gradually, the trees are recuperating to greenery in the forest-fire affected area but the authorities are preparing to axe these trees in the name of ‘developmental’ works. He said, “The Gangotri national park is also located in this 2300 square kilometer area. After the Ganga was declared the National River in 2008, the government had also extended the area to declare an eco-sensitive zone covering about 4,000 square kilometre area. The forests are being threatened in an eco-sensitive area where the government is emphasising on increasing the green area and agriculture area. What is left of the very rich biodiversity of this area will suffer detrimental effect of even one tree being axed.
The cutting of the trees and rolling these down will further exacerbate the land loss in the area already affected by forest fires and landslides. The Deodar trees which have been marked for cutting in this area are neither aged enough for cutting nor do any of them display dried out parts,” he further averred.
It is pertinent to mention here that despite the vulnerability of mountainous regions to landslides, seismic activity, flash floods and geological damage, the authorities appear to have ignored these aspects to widen roads in the mountainous region as in the plains. Suresh Bhai states, “Between 1994 and 1998 thousands of green Deodar trees had been axed in this region. At that time, the women from Harishil, Mukhba and other villages had tied ‘Raksha Sutra’ on the trees and protested against the trees being cut. Taking cognizance, the Ministry of Environment and Forests had formed an inquiry body which had found dozens of forest department employees were found to be guilty. In any forest range, the opinion of the villagers should also be sought but this is rarely done. They simply meet the official formality by getting local public representatives to stamp their approval in the name of ‘dry’ trees. If one considers the reports of the Chipko Andolan and Raksha Sutra movement for protecting the trees, it becomes apparent that the business of brewing and selling illicit country liquor is also connected to areas marked by indiscriminate exploitation of forests.
The illegal nexus profits from both—the illegal liquor trade and the forests along with the smuggling of pelts and body parts of wild animals and medicinal herbs. It needs to be considered seriously whether it is viable or necessary to cut green trees followed by compensatory plantation. Instead, the budget should be utilized on tree plantation in areas devoid of tree cover.