Students campaign against cutting of trees in Patna zoo

29/08/2010

Students campaign against cutting of trees in Patna zoo

Patna, Aug 28 (IANS) Hundreds of students associated with Taru Mitra (Friends of Trees) in Bihar Saturday began a campaign against the government's plan to cut nearly 4,000 trees in the Patna zoo for airport safety.

Taru Mitra, a student movement to protect and promote a healthy environment on earth, has also planned a march Saturday to protest the move to cut trees in the zoo, the only green cover for the city's two million people.

"We will also submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, seeking protection of the trees," Father Robert Athickal, coordinator of Taru Mitra, told IANS.

Rajesh Kumar, a Taru Mitra official, said: "Students will also hold a demonstration inside the zoo to protest the cutting of trees."

The zoo is formally known as the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park and houses a variety of trees such as semal, bamboo, amaltas, banyan, kusum, arjun and putranjiva.

According to a zoo official, the state government is under tremendous pressure to cut trees to remove obstruction in the approach path of the aircraft by Aug 31, the deadline given by the ministry of civil aviation.

The state government had to initiate moves to cut or prune trees after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation threatened to declare the airport unsuitable for big aircraft operations from Sep 1 if obstacles to the approach funnel were not cleared.

"The state government plans to get a part of the zoo denotified so as to cut or prune over 3,700-odd trees in a triangular area of 17 acres. It has written to the environment and forests ministry in this regard," an official in the chief minister's office said.

"Pruning and cutting of trees are essential for safe landing of aircraft at the Patna airport. The civil aviation ministry has given the state government an ultimatum till Aug 31 to cut the identified trees that obstruct the approach funnel of the Patna airport," he added.

Taru Mitra students said that more than 2,000 trees were cut or uprooted in Patna in the name of widening of roads in the last four years. It has increased pollution and temperature in crowded areas of Patna.

A two-member Airports Authority of India (AAI) team from Delhi is presently in Patna and it has demarcated three points in the zoo that are to be denotified.

Patel Chowk is the first point while the second point lies along the road adjacent to the airport. The third point is between the zoo's Gate No. 2 and Raj Bhavan.

At present the zoo is spread across an area of 34 acres and is home to over 10,000 trees.

We all Patnites, the real Patnites, know it very well what Patna zoo does mean for Patna. Patna zoo is the real lory and asset, and something at internaitonal standard. It is the most beautiful and serene place of Patna and have been the identity of Patna for many decades. Now when I here this news of chopping the trees at zoo and make it naked, look like deserted ruins of some civilization, my heart sinks. This should never happen. I fully support the guys from Taru Mitra who are capaigning against it. Shamefully not a single intellectual and political person who gathered and enjoyed in Patna Zoo for decades are hinding back in their home. Patnies are silent. This all shows no body cares about Patna. We have hardly any nice and good place to sit and pass time in Patna. It was this zoo only. Deforestation will not ruin the great asset of Patna but also cause pollution as there is no check on polution there form authorities. Instead of shifting Patna airport for some other place like Bihta, government feel better to disfigure Patna. It can't construct and cause development of Patna or by developing Bihta as a plan of Greater Patna, but willing to take dirty shortcut.

Another side of Patna zoo has railways line, Central Jail old building, Phulwarishareef station, Birla Colony, Police colony and Chitkohra bridge. Then same way government should first remove these concrete jungles and bigger spots of tragedy(Remember the plane crashing over Govt. houses in Chitkohra near railway lines in 1990's) than cutting down the heritage place. We should protest and protest should come from all corners and even from journalists form your side and other national dailies. We can't let them disfigure Patna, if they can't beautify it.