The cutting of trees should be made a cognisable offence only then will people stop cutting them, Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao said.
Dr. Rao inaugurated a national seminar on transplantation of tree conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Urban Greening and Beautification Corporation (APUG&BCL) in association with A.P. Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) of the CII at the Fortune Murali Park here on Saturday.
Saying that the Indian scriptures gave a great deal of importance to the tree, he said that it was very sad that people instead of protecting them were cutting them without the slightest consideration. He said that he made two recommendation to the State government, one being that cutting of trees be made a cognisable office and to factor in the cost of tree planting and maintenance in road-widening projects. He also shared his experience of afforestation near the Kottappakonda Temple in Guntur district.
APUG&BCL Managing Director N. Chandra Mohan Reddy said the corporation was working closely with stakeholders to promote greenery in urban open spaces. The corporation would be organising several awareness and outreach programmes on the importance and need of going the green way.
Tree transplantation expert Vibhu Natarajan said that criteria of the tree like species, health, age and distance to be transported played an important role in the success rate. Talking from his experience of exporting palms to China, Hong Kong and Europe, Mr Natarajan said that his firm achieved 90% success rate in transplanting palm trees. Palm trees were also ideal for transplantation in urban areas, he said.
Urban Forestry expert from Malaysia Ong Chye Lye shared his experience of successfully transplanting trees that were 40 to 50 feet tall. He said the technology was simple and could be implemented anywhere.
Ahmedabad LaSpazio principal architect Lokendra Balasaria, Rohit Nursery MD Ajay Nagar, APFDC MD P. Mallikarjuna Rao, Vijayawada Mayor Koneru Sridhar and IGBC Amaravati chapter chairman Meka Vijaya Sai spoke.