Just recently Jharkhand High Court had smacked the then RMC boss for chopping-off numerous green trees, just to welcome then President Pratibha Patil, without any justifiable reason. It seems that such snubs are too insignificant for our policy makers for which the priority list is upside down.
One can see series of still young and growing trees lying dead at Sahajanand Chowk of Harmu Road in the name of ‘road widening’. It is hard to recall when or whether one had seen any traffic jam incurring at the stretch that already has fairly broad path.
On the contrary, area around Kishoreganj and towards Ratu Road is prone to jams but not due to the helpless, mute spectators but thanks to ‘developmental activities’, e.g. shops at footpath, encroachment upon public land, vehicles parked on roads and of course religious structures squeezing the artery badly!
Anyway the choice is very clear. Trees do not fall in the priority list of anyone and thus have to pay a price. “No one is there to file a PIl for them! Actually role the civil society in the cities like this plays this is meager. It has turned opaque. Town planners are least interested in removing man-made enthronements in the highly congested areas,” says the
environmentalist Nitish Priyadarshi.
Priyadarshi sounds right as not a single brick was removed when Kanke Road, once known for its dense green canopies, was getting widened. Though, the stretch from CM’s House towards Pithoria lost entire greenery from both the sides.
“No one wants to get muddled, as you know, before removing encroachments you have to serve notices that get challenged in the court and the work stops,” says a Government official defending the strategy of overlooking structures on roads.
Also, the entire ‘from cutting-to-plating’ exercise involves much more. “Role of money comes into play in selling logs and estimate for fresh plantation. It provides opportunity to make bills,” feels RK Singh, a citizen.
A former forest official is for a balanced approach. “Development at the cost of environment is not sane. There is scope for coexistence and we should consider it before doing anything,” says AK Mishra, former PCCF (Wildlife) who is presently also heading the State Pollution Control Board.