The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Axe falls on 75-year-old trees on GST Road

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Axe falls on 75-year-old trees on GST Road

By P. Oppili

CHENNAI, JULY 3. More than 15 trees along the GST Road between Pallavaram and Chromepet were felled as a "preparatory measure" even before the order for road-widening works has been issued.

Several of the trees cut were 75-year-old tamarind trees. According to residents, these trees had never impeded or threatened the traffic on this arterial road. The State Highways Department officials, in charge of maintenance, said they were planning to expand the road into a six-lane stretch. As a preparatory measure, "obstructions" such as the trees and encroachments were being removed, they said.

However, environmentalists expressed concern over the indiscriminate felling of old trees that were unobtrusively standing on one corner of the road. Five years ago, while widening the National Highway 45 (Tambaram to Villupuram), more than 1,500 trees were uprooted on both sides of the road. Many trees were felled during the broadening of National Highway 4 (Poonamallee to Kancheepuram) also.

Nanditha Krishna, director, C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer Environmental Education Centre, said that instead of pulling down old trees, the officials could've resorted to transplantation, an inexpensive alternative. In August 2001, two 50-year-old trees — a neem and a date palm — within the Foundation premises at Alwarpet were transplanted at the cost of Rs. 7,500.

If the Government takes up transplantation on a larger scale, they could reduce the cost further, she said.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department had proposed legislation, the Tree Protection Act, by which any Government or private agency planning to cut a tree must obtain prior permission from the Forest Department. However, the legislation is yet to see the light of the day here whereas in neighbouring Karnataka it is already in force.

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