green cover

Several thousands of trees were uprooted as Cyclone Amphan battered Kolkata. Since then tree plantation drives have been rampant. What are tree experts saying about these?

In the once-green British-era hill town of Shimla, unplanned urbanisation and construction have gobbled up most of the parks and grounds that children used to play in. Thankfully, there is a strong citizen-led movement that may force the government to take action to reverse this.

The first line of the Pune Metro may finally be ready for launch in 2020. But while it promises to be the country’s ‘greenest’ metro, with end to end connectivity and assured rehabilitation for those displaced, there are still many concerns.

Bhopal has over 100 public parks, but most are in sad shape — used as protest venues or dumping sites, or merely languishing in decrepit condition. The state and municipality have now promised to revamp three of these, with funds released under the Amrut scheme.

Government, civil society and corporate bodies have joined hands to regreen cyclone-ravaged Bhubaneswar, but what is needed is not just replantation but also proper urban forest planning.

Countless trees have already gone under the axe and several thousands are at risk in Bhopal’s Tatiya Tope Nagar, where a government housing project under the Smart Cities Mission is in progress. Environmentalists fume at the toll that such projects are taking.