Branches face the axe to make space for hoardings

KOLKATA: IPCC may have sounded the alarm bells over global warming going out of hands but that hasn't deterred Durga Puja committees in the city from sticking to their practice of hacking tree branches to make room for hoardings. Like previous years, they have chopped off thick branches of trees to facilitate a full view of hoardings, a major source of income of the organizers.

"There is hardly any roadside tree that goes unscathed from this mindless practice. There was some sanity even a few years back. But now, puja organisers show little mercy to trees. They don't even bother for permission. In many cases, the civic body helps by sending equipment and hydraulic vans," rued Somendra Mohan Ghosh, an environmetalist.


Advertisement hoardings, which come in different shapes and sizes not only encroach upon vital road space but also need vertical clearance for their erection and visibility. According to many, this is one of the many ills of commercialization of Durga Puja.

"Baroari pujas used to be depend on subscriptions. Nowadays, subscriptions hardly matter. What matters is corporate sponsorship. You have to pay a price for that. Tree hacking is the most visible manifestation of that," said Ashok Gangopadhyay, who organises a green puja at Parnashree and presides over community tree plantation during the festivities.

"In most cases, those who hack trees in the name of trimming don't have the permission for doing so. Kolkata Municipal Corporation, which is supposed to prevent such violations, often facilitates the act," said Subhas Dutta, a green crusader whose series of litigation led the national green tribunals to issue some landmark orders against mindless destruction of greenery.

MMiC Debasish Kumar admitted that puja committees and KMC workers often overdo as far trimming is concerned. "But we always take action when rules are violated. But people fall short of lodging formal complaint," Kumar said.