Dehradun: The recent felling of ‘endangered’ trees near Jakhan on Rajpur Road has raised concerns among environmentalist about the increase Concretization around trees. Early last week, the forest department removed four trees, including a healthy silver oak, from the footpaths along Rajpur Road. Officials told TOI that the trees were either dead or posed a threat to public safety.
“One of the trees was green but leaning dangerously towards the road so it had to be removed for safety reasons. Cutting down a healthy tree is always the last resort,” said Neeraj Kumar, forest officer of the department. Officials said 12 more locations in the city have been identified where dead trees pose similar risks and measures will be taken soon.
However, this move drew widespread criticism from environmental activists. “When the concreting of the footpath on Rajpur Road began, we raised objections. The concrete around the tree trunks leaves no room for the roots to breathe, which inevitably leads to the trees dying. Now these trees are being removed in the name of public safety. These are some of the last remaining trees on Rajpur Road and they should be preserved,” said Himanshu Arora of Citizens for Green Doon.
Environmentalists said the process of identifying “endangered” trees in Dehradun is not monitored by experts and is often arbitrary. “Tree cutting has become the standard response of the authorities. If a tree is truly at risk, it can be pruned or trimmed to a safe height. If the importance of saving trees continues to be overlooked, we will soon face a severe crisis. Just last week, we replanted a Balam Kheera tree at the Race Course that had fallen due to heavy rains. We need solutions that do not involve cutting,” said Sandeep Gupta, another environmentalist in Dehradun.
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