Bharatvan: People object to translocation of trees
| Date :05-Jun-2019 |
The people participating voluntarily in ‘Save Bharatvan’ campaign
submitting their objections to Amol Chorpagar, Garden Superintendent, in NMC on Tuesday. (Pic by Anil Futane)
Staff Reporter:
As many as 60 objections were filed in one single day on Tuesday, as the people participating voluntarily in ‘Save Bharatvan’ campaign submitted their strong displeasure in writing to Garden Department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). All of them objected to proposed translocation of 558 trees in Bharatvan for construction of road from Bharat Nagar to Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) office.
The people submitted their objections to Amol Chorpagar, Garden Superintendent of NMC, at his office. The representatives of more than 30 organisations and individuals submitted their objections to Chorpagar. Adv Ambarish Joshi of Footloose Trekkers stated in his objection addressed to Nanda Jichkar, Mayor; Abhijit Bangar, Municipal Commissioner; and Amol Chorpagar that most of the trees in Bharatvan were full-grown and some were at least over 200 years old. Translocation or transplantation of such full-grown trees was ‘neither possible nor feasible nor practical’ and the assurance of NMC was merely an ‘eye wash’, he stated. The success rate of such transplantation of trees is almost zero, Adv Joshi stated. The ecological balance of the fragile ecosystem in Bharatvan would not only be disturbed but would be lost forever on account of ‘mindless planning and execution’ for construction of this 500 metres road proposed to be undertaken by NMC with Maha Metro.
“All this is being done only to construct a 500 metres long stretch of a new road which, it is claimed, would save a drive of only about 4-5 minutes. It takes only 4-5 minutes to reach Bharat Nagar Square from Telangkhedi Hanuman Mandir, no matter if one travels via Futala Lake or via CP Club and Ravi Nagar Square,” stated the Footloose Trekkers representative in his objection. Another citizen, Tejinder Kaur Mehta, placed on record her ‘strong objection’ to any plan for translocation or cutting down of trees for the said road. “The area of Bharatvan through which the road is proposed, is one of the last few green areas of the city, which is witnessing unprecedented rise in temperature and loss of groundwater levels due to unplanned infrastructure creation in the name of development.
This area should not fall victim to such thoughtless plans. Saving every single tree is important,” she stated in her objection submitted to Chorpagar. Manoj Sute, Founder President of Future Foundation Charitable Trust, also submitted his objection. He expressed concern over Bharatvan trees being uprooted and translocated elsewhere. He termed it a ‘serious problem’. Some other citizens sought a copy of the objection submitted by ‘Save Bharatvan’ campaigners, signed it, and submitted the same in their names to the Garden Department officer. At one point in time, there was literally no space in Chorpagar’s chamber for more people to enter. Garden Department staff had to request the people to submit the objection and move out to make space for others.
Some also pointed out to Chorpagar that the period given for filing of objections was a very short one. They also added that though a period of seven days since publication of public notice in a Marathi daily on June 1 was granted for filing objections, there were holidays on June 2 (Sunday) and June 5 (Eid). When mediapersons present on the occasion asked Chorpagar about this, he gave a short reply, “It is seven working days.” But, he did not clarify if that meant extension of deadline for submission of suggestions/objections by two more days after June 7. Even if it is extended by two more days, June 8 is second Saturday and June 9 is Sunday.
As per the notice published by Garden Department of NMC, Additional General Manager (Planning-II) of Maha Metro has proposed to construct 18 metres wide and 500 metres long Development Plan road from Mother’s Dairy in Bharat Nagar to MJP office in Telangkhedi. The said road is threatening the existence of Bharat Van, which has several full-grown trees, alleged the campaigners. As per the notice, NMC, Agriculture College, and Maha Metro have jointly conducted a survey of trees that will be affected by the proposed road. They found 558 trees including 101 big and medium trees of different species, and 457 small trees would get affected due to construction of road. As per Maha Metro’s proposal, these trees will be transplanted on Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth’s land nearby.