Nagpur: Once ranked among the country’s top three greenest cities, Nagpur is gradually losing its green cover.
In eight months in 2023, the city has lost 2,013 trees, it means over 9 every day in just 214 days. In the last 4.8 years, on an average, nearly 3 trees were felled daily.
Wenesday Rate
Wednesday01 Jan. 2025
According to data from Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s garden department, 4,859 trees were felled within the city limits from April 2019 to November 2023.
These trees were felled for various infrastructure projects such as road widening, expansion of government facilities, including hospitals, construction of new roads, etc.
A closer look at the data shows that most trees were felled in 2023. In just eight months of this financial year, 2,013 trees were felled, followed by 1,021 in 2020-21, the year when Covid struck. Meanwhile, the NMC has claimed that it has planted 71,607 saplings against the felling of 4,859 trees in the last five years.
Sources, however, told TOI that the number of trees felled is more than the number recorded by the NMC.
“In many areas, trees are being felled illegally. Due to shortage of manpower in the garden department, the felling could not be recorded,” said sources.
A senior official said the department tries to prevent felling of trees by rejecting applications.
Citing an example, the official said that recently an application was submitted for felling a heritage tree on the east side of the Nagpur railway station. Permission was sought due to proposed development works. “We rejected the application after our visit to the site where we learnt that the proposed work could be carried out without felling the tree,” the officer said.
Environmentalists say development should not be at the cost of disturbing the city’s green cover. “As Nagpur is a developing city, trees will be felled, but what about compensatory plantation?” asked NMC’s Swachh Bharat ambassador and environmentalist Kaustuv Chatterjee, who is also founder of Green Vigil Foundation.
“We have been advocating sustainable development since our inception but our city is more inclined towards development rather than making it sustainable,” he pointed out.
According to Chatterjee, NMC is playing its part but it needs the support of citizens.
“Illegal tree felling by contractors, developers and citizens is rampant without any compensatory plantation. Gangs are openly active but the NMC is not stopping them. Laws need to be stringent and more importantly, should be implemented properly,” he said.
