Following the report published in The Pioneer about a number of green trees being cut in a dubious manner in the Dhak Gram Sabha area, the sub divisional magistrate of Joshimath conducted an inspection of the site. The SDM said that a joint meeting will be held with the residents of Dhak village, representatives of the forest department and NTPC, only after which will the future course of action be ascertained. Any shortcoming ascertained will be taken cognisance of, stressed the SDM. On the other hand, the villagers who had planted and nurtured saplings into a jungle of mixed variety trees, said that they are prepared to do what it takes in case action is not taken soon in this case.
It will be recalled the residents of Dhak Gram Sabha in Joshimath area of Chamoli district had accused the NTPC of felling 150 green trees during the night time without asking the villagers who are angry at the authorities. Taking cognizance of media report, the Joshimath sub divisional magistrate Yogendra Singh visited the site in question on Monday and observed that green trees had been felled in the area. He added that the future course of action will be decided after holding a joint meeting involving officials of the State forest department, NTPC and the rural residents.
However, the official response to the axing of the trees including pines and oaks among other species, has failed to placate the villagers who are disappointed and even angry following what amounts to destruction of a jungle which had taken many years to develop. The former Gram Pradhan, Musli Devi and the Mahila Mangal Dal head Kalpeshwari Devi said that the green trees which had been felled had been planted by the village women who had also taken care of the saplings as they grew into trees spanning a period of about 20 years. They said, “We had toiled day and night to grow the trees which were so mercilessly axed by the NTPC during the night without even informing the villagers.” As felling of the trees fuels antipathy among the residents of villages in Dhak Gram Sabha towards the company officials responsible for what the villagers view as a betrayal of trust in addition to destruction of the ecological development they had achieved putting in many years of hard work and nurturing. Observers conclude that irrespective of the technicalities of this particular case of green felling, questions are justly being raised as to why the trees were axed during the night with the villagers too not being kept informed about the same by the officials.