AAI-Jaipur plans to cut 700 trees, activists up in arms

JAIPUR: Revolting against a proposal by Airport Authority of India (AAI), Jaipur to cut down around 700 trees in a residential colony to make parking space for airport shuttle busses, environmentalists and NGOs are threatening to launch a protest like Chipko movement.

The activists said most of the trees, which have been marked, are fully grown and some of them are even close to sevendecades old. They said they will not let the authorities ‘murder’ the trees, home to many varieties of birds. According to a letter given by the Airport Authority to the tehsildar (a copy of which is with TOI), they have asked permission to cut down 680 trees for making a parking space for aircraft though the officials claimed that they will follow all the guidelines required to clear the area of the trees.

Joy Gardner, president of Hope and Beyond, a city-based NGO, which is spearheading the agitation said, “As soon as we got to know about the proposal we staged a protest, which was a couple of days ago. In this endeavor, we are joined by our volunteers as well as other organisations in Jaipur. We have given a memorandum to the authority stating that if they will cut these trees then we will do a ‘Chipko Movement’. We are monitoring the situation and irrespective of how legally they are doing this work, we will not let them fell the trees.”

Locals are also concerned at the proposal which can eliminate green cover in the area.“I am surprised that in this day and age when the society as a whole is getting environmentally conscious, how the authority can think of felling so many trees,” said a resident.

Meanwhile the AAI-Jaipur claimed that they will follow the protocol to clear the trees. Jaideep Singh Balhara, director, AAI-Jaipur, said, “We have asked for the permission to cut 680 trees though we are yet to receive it. We will progress according to the guidelines which have been given to us.”