Environmentalists and NGOs in Ghaziabad have begun a protest against unchecked concretisation of trees, which "causes serious ecological imbalance and is a permanent irreversible hazard."
launching a 'protest plantation' on Sunday, organiser and environmentalist Akash Vashishtha said, "The green area is being concretised without assessing medium and long-term consequences, which can be disastrous."He said they had complained to local agencies, but "they have even not bothered to read letters from the Ministry of Water Resources and Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA)."Vashishtha said, "Concretisation prevents percolation of rainwater into the ground, preventing natural recharge of groundwater aquifers, reducing catchment areas and recharge zones."
Up to four degrees Celsius of temperature rise is noted over concrete surfaces, which also choke trees and "also reflects harmful ultraviolet B radiation that permanently degrades soil, kills micro-bacteria and increases erosion," he maintained.Ghaziabad has been declared a 'Critical Area' by CGWA for depleting resources.
local agencies are unable to enforce water harvesting in private plots or public places."Not a single inch of ground surface in the city has been spared from tiling. Rainwater skids over to the drains. This has been photographed and recorded too," Vashishtha pointed out.