Save environment plant trees

The 5th of June is the World Environment Day. It has become a tradition that learned people get together on this day and discuss the fate that awaits our future generations. It has become an annual ritual in which there are innumerable participants but no concrete results. We curse the truant monsoons; we stare at helpless peasants waiting for rains in their parched soils when suddenly we hear of a dam burst inundating hundreds of villages elsewhere. Or of bush fires that leave behind burnt embers as memories of dark green vegetation that was home to innumerable varieties of flora and fauna. The smoldering leaves float in the wind spreading the smell of death – not only death of nature but gradual of mankind.

Any place where there is a multitude of greenery; there is peace, calm and quiet. Large trees like the Banyan give shelter to hundreds of birds, they provide shade to the weary traveler, and they are a thing of beauty – that is why we worship this tree. In the botanical garden in Kolkata, there is a banyan tree that is ageless – it has innumerable roots that go into the ground. People do not know which of these is the original trunk.

Cutting trees is a serious offence but, in cities, the axe falls indiscriminately on these protectors of environment – excuses that are put forth range from the innocent 'widening of road' to the bizarre 'for hoardings of ads to tell us to plant more trees'. The railways introduced tree plantation drives all along the sides of the railway tracks – plenty of funds must have been earmarked for this activity on a continuous basis but the results do not indicate any noteworthy progress. Similarly for the preservation of mangroves – these protect the coastlines and when plans are worked out to convert these into living areas like the salt pans of Mumbai, it foretells a bleak future for the environment.