In the larger interest of people
| Date :04-Jun-2019 |
By Vijay Phanshikar:
THE mistake the authorities are making in the case of Bharatvan is that they are confusing trees with the forest, and forest with the trees. This is their way of hoodwinking the people agitating for months to save Bharatvan -- by telling the folks that they propose to translocate as many as 558 trees -- 101 big ones, and 457 medium and small ones -- to a plot of land owned by the agriculture university. So, dear agitators, we are not killing the trees, they seem to insist.
And to this action, they expect people’s reaction: ‘Wow, the authorities have heard our pleas’ So, the trees stay -- if they truly survive translocation -- and the forest goes! Even a child of three can see the fraud in this! So, Bharatvan continues to be under threat -- of an officialised demise, no matter what the people feel, no matter the importance of a forest patch right in the middle of the city. Obviously, the authorities feel that they are the final arbiters of common destinies of the people so intricately linked to the surroundings not just physically but also metaphysically.
So, the trees (may) stay and the forest would go. For, once the proposed road slices through Bharatvan, the forest would go for a toss, to hell, falling victim to “political will” as against popular wish. Is this not a strange way democracy is being made to operate? To this question, there will be no response from the authorities. For, by now, they have mastered the art and perfected the science of ignoring the genuine wish and need of the people. That was exactly why they -- the authorities -- completed the formality of publishing a small advertisement in a newspaper to declare their intentions -- of making the Development Road across Bharatvan possible.
Having accomplished that, they are now free to make their next moves. But then, the authorities would say, ‘we are only taking a 500meter-by-18meter stretch and not the whole of Bharatvan! So, why crib and cry!’ Again, even a three-year-old can see the bluff in this. For, it does not require much intelligence that if a major road slices through a forest patch, of just a few hundred acres, the whole patch gets destroyed. For, once the road comes up, commercial activity, too, would follow, messing up the forested area totally. But then, having decided to take trees for forest and forest for trees, the authorities appear decided to push their project through somehow, anyhow! But then, the people are not going to be hoodwinked on this. They are determined to oppose the idea not just as impractical but also immoral. Let us go back in time. What is known as Forest Act once made it impossible for anyone to lay one’s hands on any single tree. So, developmental projects worth billions of rupees were held back, thanks to the Forest Act. It is common knowledge that Vidarbha region suffered for decades on end on account of what is defined in official parlance as Zudpi Jungle -- the scrub and bush patches. Dozens of developmental projects got stalled or rejected because of the Zudpi Jungle areas spread all over. In Bharatvan, perhaps, the Forest Act does not operate! There can be many other arguments against the Bharatvan road project. The authorities have called for objections. And we have reasons to believe that the administration would not be able to ignore the public sentiment. If public sentiment is upheld and hailed by the authorities, we will be extremely grateful. If not, then the struggle will continue, no matter what the authorities would think. But we must assert here that the Bharatvan movement is beyond politics, beyond any personal agenda. It is a people’s movement. As People’s Paper, ‘The Hitavada’ stands by the legitimate popular wish.
The mess at the metro station in Gaddigodam Square. (Pic by Satish Raut)
There is a need to explain the metaphor of the campaign to bring to fore the trouble the Nagpurians will be needed to face forever on account of Metro Rail. There is a need to communicate to people once again that no matter the official claims, the Metro Rail project will bring a lot of suffering to the people. True, there may be quite many people who would travel by Metro Rail, and have the benefit in future. But the indelible mark of bad urban design will remain forever etched on the cityscape, having spoiled the serenity of our city once and for all. For, the Metro Rail will leave in its wake kilometers of permanently narrow roads, permanently monstrous station designs that would have more problems than solutions, permanently embittered minds of the people the frontages of whose homes and offices and shops would remain eternally obscured beyond use. But then, who cared? We did. And we did our job as a newspaper -- to bring to everybody’s notice what was in store for all of us Nagpurians. The citizens responded positively, and we thank them. But friends, this is not just a matter for thanking one another. This is a matter to be serious about, as it is going to keep hurting us all forever. We made our point -- in tune with our credo that we publish on the top of our Editorial Column: They are slaves who dare not be In the right with two or three ...(James Lowell).