Took away 1.8 lakh kg CO2 and gave Rs46 crore O2. Still want to cut them?

The trees in Bharat Nagar, which are facing axe from a proposed road, have consumed over 1 lakh kilograms of toxic carbon dioxide from the city’s atmosphere in the last 40 years. Moreover, in the last 50 years, Nagpurians have breathed oxygen worth Rs46 crores from these trees.
A scientific study conducted by a group of environment experts unearthed some thought-provoking facts, quantifying the extent of damage that would be caused by a 500-metre long proposed road which will pass through a mini-forest on Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) land.

To lend some empirical weight to the ongoing public protest, members of environment consultancy organization Punarvana Ecological Services and Eco-Design Solutions carried out a spot tree survey at the land in Bharat Nagar. During the inspection, they found that most of the tree species were between 50-100 years old.

Considering the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) at an average of 22.5 kilograms of CO2 per tree annually, the 200 trees in Bharat Nagar have consumed around 1.8 lakh kilograms of CO2 in last 40 years. “For doing these calculations, we didn’t include the initial 20 years of the trees’ lifespan. As the age of trees were different, we calculated by taking 40 as a base year,” said Prachi Mahurkar, a member of the organization.

Similarly the experts quantified the amount of oxygen which the lush green patch provided to citizens in the last 50 years. “On an estimate, the 200 trees provided about 23,600kg of oxygen annually, which is enough for 31 people to breathe per year. The monetary value of this amount of oxygen is nearly Rs46 crore,” said Madhuri Kanetkar, another member of the organization.

Apart from this, the survey also revealed how the land was creating a “microclimate”. “This patch reduces the atmospheric as well as soil temperature. The ground is covered with thick biomass which acts as a water absorbing sponge. A meandering stream flows through the land carrying overflow from Futala lake. The place is not less than any sacred grove,” the survey report stated.

The experts also recorded 35 important species of trees in the PDKV land. According to them, the loss of destroying this mini-forest won’t be restricted to biodiversity but to humans too. “The green area is reducing atmospheric temperature and arresting dust particles. Apart from this, the age-old trees are facilitating water percolation, thus recharging the groundwater. The land also acts as a buffer for the excess water flow from Futala Lake during rainy season,” said Mahurkar.

On Saturday, TOI reported that around 136 species of resident and migratory birds and various other species of owls, snakes, bats, mammals, amphibians and insects were recorded in another survey.