August 1 - 14 Issue Do you really think we can survive without trees?
Sometimes, I think I am a wee bit obsessed. With trees, I mean. I’ve reached a stage when I look at a venerable old tree with its umbrella of branches and rich foliage standing quietly by the side of the road, and quickly turn my eyes away.
The thought crosses my mind that if I don’t see it and admire it, maybe it will continue to escape the notice of timber merchants and road developers, and still be there the next time I pass that way.
A bit like not admiring your child because someone may cast the evil eye. Old-fashioned stuff and all that, but when it comes to trees, I am getting that way.
Because, across the country, trees seemed to be a mightily threatened species. That they have stood their ground for so many years, does not change the fact that it takes but a few hours to fell them and carry the wood away. Trees keep getting felled for a number of reasons - all usually associated with greed.
Yesterday, my friend told me she was aghast to see, on her return from work at night, that four or five of the trees that lined her building’s compound wall had been cut down; the ground levelled over their roots and cemented over. The landlord stood by her, close to tears himself, hapless in the face of the deed. And the reason for it? One of the tenants had decided she wanted to cement the area so she could place ‘pretty pots’ along the wall.
My friend asked me what could be done. I told her to register a police complaint. I do hope the Bandra police take her seriously and the tenant and her pots land up in some jail.
Then, I got another call, from another friend, who happens to be a columnist with this magazine and something of an activist. “You are interested in such things, so I am calling,” she explained. She proceeded to tell me about the modus operandi.
Large, ancient but healthy trees were ‘trimmed’ by contractors on one side only, and the roots were interfered with on the same side, thus weakening the balance of the tree. Then, without any law being broken, the tree was left to the tender mercies of the monsoon winds that would in due course, ensure that it fell. Leaving the contractors with the happy job of clearing away the debris, and selling the timber.
I despair. All the fuss we made over the tree whose bark was being stripped away near the flyover on the highway, has saved it from further damage — for the present. But what of the future? I see a city without trees, without shade and in which the rains will play havoc year after year.
Worse still, even as the damage continues, an organisation as large as the Gas Authority of India releases a half-page advertisement saying plastics are recommended because if you don’t use them and use paper instead, you cut more trees.
I have had this ad quoted to me even by educated people when I talk against plastic. I wonder how many people I can explain to that plastic will in turn, ensure the ground becomes impossible for trees to take root, that animals choke and we suffer the effects of toxins in the environment...
As I said, I can go on and on. But all I will say instead is: Imagine no trees for future generations to climb, to build tree houses in, to read lying under the shade of. Imagine no rustling of leaves outside your window, no leaves flying in the wind, no soft falling of petals in the night, no walking to the sound of dry leaves crunching underfoot. If it means nothing to you, then let the next tree be killed.
Otherwise, please do something about it.
The Editor
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