Lo & behold! The community must come out of their recently observed Earth Day and World Environment Day celebration fantasies where we felt elated after planting one sapling. The environmental reality is different. India stands at the bottom of the Environmental Performance Index 2022 in the world ranking among 180 countries. Moreover, the Delhi High Court has strongly reprimanded the Delhi government for the uprooting of almost all newly planted trees in Delhi (about 50,000) in the recent rains.
To add insult to injury, the forest department granted permission to cut or transplant at least 77,000 trees during the last three years, or three trees every hour, for 'developmental work' in the city. Permissions were accorded for cutting 8953 and transplanting 13486 in West Delhi, cutting 2866 and transplanting 701 in Central Delhi, cutting 689 and transplanting 269 trees in North Delhi, and cutting 982 and transplanting 2000 trees in the South districts of Delhi during the last three years. This comes when it is a known fact that only one-third of the transplanted trees survive.
The colossal loss of trees has exposed our inherent careless attitude towards the environment. This makes it clear that our environmental concerns are simply verbal and do not see sustainable actions.
We need to think deeply and take charge of the situation. Prepare your tree mate by ensuring it has a space of 2 x 2 feet around its base. Water it and care for it as there will be no earth left to plant more trees shortly.
PK Datta says his mission is “Empowering Environment by Connecting People to Plants” through tree plantation, conservation, knowledge acquisition, education, training/workshops, and nature walks
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are his own and CitySpidey does not endorse them in anyway.