Citizens must actively participate to save remaining green cover: Activists

Trees are being cut unscrupulously while the debate rages on whether it is the environment which should be given a priority or development. Temperatures have been rising steadily over the past many years and disappearing green cover is a major contributor according to environmentalists.
Over the last year in the city, trees have been cut excessively because of several road widening works and other infrastructural projects.There have been feeble attempts at transplantation or planting of trees.
Also, transplantation has failed miserably wherever attempted as trees failed to survive the harsh weather conditions, change in environment and lack of maintenance.
The need to save existing trees becomes that much more pertinent in such a situation.
On April 29, 2023, Puneites had gathered to protest against the “ongoing massacre of trees” for the riverfront development (RFD) project along the Mutha river in the Bund Garden area. A year later, nothing has changed. The fight to save the city’s greenery continues and has become more dire.
Ameet Singh, who has been active in fighting against felling of trees across Pune, says, “It’s been a bad year for trees. There is no part of the city where felling of trees is not a problem. Huge swathes of riparian forests have been destroyed under the name of RFD. There are many who are willing to help and guide Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on ways to avoid felling, but they don’t listen. We need more citizens to join the cause and stay aware of tree felling activities if we have to save our trees.”
Ecologist Jaideep Baphna says, “The green cover across the city has diminished significantly in the last year.”
According to him, the civic body has adapted and found ways to navigate around protesting citizens. “Now, felling occurs overnight, when there is no one to notice. They know citizens will find ways to object and prevent cutting of trees, so authorities have started working at an alarmingly fast rate. The overnight felling of trees on Nagar Road is an example. It also impacts citizen morale when it happens repeatedly,” Baphna says.
Citizens play a key role and having more eyes on the road helps. There also needs to be a centralised system to track the cumulative number of trees cut in the city. “The total should match the number of trees planted and survived. On a small scale, each tree cutting may be justified, but it is only when the total number is considered that the actual impact becomes apparent.” he adds.
Recently, citizen Arunkumar Nair took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his displeasure over the tree-like steel structures built on AundhWakad Road, just after the Aundh bridge. Trees were cut for road widening along this stretch and replaced by tree imitations made of steel. Nair says, “Hinjewadi and Wakad used to have an expansive green cover, but it is lost to development.
There is still some greenery, but very minimal. It is tragic that actual green trees were chopped down to make way for steel structures and concrete roads. This money could have been used to plant more trees.” After Nair’s post, which went viral, a petition was started on Jhatkaa.org demanding that PMC and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation give citizens real trees.
The petition has listed three demands. The first is to get rid of the artificial steel trees that serve a supposed aesthetic purpose, to undertake appropriate compensatory plantation measures in lieu of trees cut for widening of Aundh-Wakad road, and to replace artificial trees with real ones.
Meanwhile, to celebrate a year of the city’s own Chipko protest, a group of citizens walked the Sangamwadi stretch on Sunday, to check on the trees they managed to save last year.
Rupesh Kesekar, who has been fighting for the survival of trees in Pune, says there are hardly any roads where trees have not been cut and the ground reality is scary. “The tree count in the city has reduced. I have information that we have a backlog of lakhs of trees that were to be planted to compensate for the ones cut down. We have a Tree Act in place, but that is also ignored,” Kesekar says.
Most recently, citizen Vijaya Suratkal spotted trees being trimmed in Camp. On questioning, she was told it was being done in lieu of the Prime Minister’s visit to the city on April 29. “The city is changing and there’s no one we can hold accountable. Trees are usually a respite from hot weather, but the decreasing numbers have left us scrambling for shade. Trimming or cutting of trees for VIP visits must stop,” she says.