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| Crisis of greenery in Bhopal |
In
so far greenery in the city of Bhopal is concerned things seem to be on the
mend. It is no longer the whims and wishes of the Commissioner or his minions
or even the political class of the Municipality who seem to have a say. The
power in this respect has slipped out of their grasp and one tends to feel that
greenery is likely to be better maintained when the minister for urban affairs
is himself in-charge of a newly created committee dealing with this vital
factor in city administration.
A
report in this connection came out the other day. That the committee met so
soon after its formation happens seldom in the government – especially
committees dealing with matters of environment. I remember an apex committee to
manage the Upper Lake was constituted by Shivraj Singh government and it had
met only once since then and that too after several months of its creation. So
a meeting of the committee to review the plans prepared by the Smart City
Corporation chaired by the minister of urban affairs so soon after its
constitution is kind of a happy augury.
Earlier,
the Smart City Corporation had exhibited the mindset of the Bhopal Municipal
Corporation by suggesting compensatory plantation miles away from the town in
place of chopped down trees of the city. A hack had even put the question
whether citizens would be required to go out of the town whenever their lungs
needed the much-required oxygen. This is typical mindset of the officials of
the local municipality. They merrily chop away the roadside trees and plant trees
in compensation miles away from the town. According to them, the roadside trees
have no importance; what they plan for is miles and miles of treeless expanse
of asphalt exposed to the tropical sun heating up the environs. That, for them,
is top class town-planning.
One
wishes if only one could take our town-planners to Lutyen’s Delhi to show them
the leafy avenues that were created by him almost a hundred years ago with the
help of indigenous species of trees. For each street was chosen a particular
species, for the India Gate lawns, however, they had chosen only massive Jamun
(black berry) trees. In some of the avenues they had planted two rows of trees
on two sides. I remember while living in Curzon Road apartments in 1970s they
chopped down a row on each side to allow widening of the road consequent on
traffic expansion. That leafy character of Lutyen’s Delhi still continues
whereas the localities in many areas, though built up later, are devoid of
trees. Only some of the recent colonies developed by DDA have, thankfully, enough
greenery.
Getting
back to the news report, it seems a decision has been taken to plant as many as
four trees for every tree that is felled and these will be planted in the same
locale where they are chopped down. This is a clear departure from the BMC
mindset and is likely to take care of the micro-environment of the area where
trees are chopped down.
An
announcement has been made that of the 342 acres of the Smart City Area 23%
will be kept green which includes 11 acres of what is called a central park. One
does not know the reason behind greening of only 23% of the Smart City area
with a large sized park thrown in when one knows the economic benefits of
trees.
The
Smart City officialdom has not been smart in this respect. Even in rich and industrially
advanced countries trees had been considered as “expensive ornaments” But, of
late, researches have shown that they provide staggering ecological services.
Trees can cool cities by 2 degrees to 8 degrees Centigrade, trees can cut
air-conditioning needs by 30% and a large tree can absorb 150 kgs of carbon
dioxide every year as well as filter some pollutants including the fine
particulates.
Use
of open source software i-Tree has
spread all over the world to assess canopy size to calculate its worth. Ideally
cities should have 40% and to be able to monetise the benefits would be useful
for city planners. Quoting a UK based GP and a public health expert a Guardian
report explaining the reasons said “The parts of our brain we use change when
we connect with nature…Our brains view cities as hostile environments. Natural
scenes, by contrast, light up anterior cingulate and the insula, where empathy
and altruism happen.” The report further said, “In areas with more trees people
get out more, they know their neighbours more, they have less anxiety and
depression” thus directly reducing public health expenditure on these ailments
incidences of which have registered a sharp rise.
A
re-think is, therefore, necessary for re-greening of the town. Come to think of
it, it had once more than 65% of its land area under trees which has now shrunk
to around 11%, and unless taken for a mend, could hit 4%, with all the
ill-effects of a dry and arid town. A town that once was green and healthy
cannot thus be allowed to be deteriorated and fall by the wayside.
Perhaps
the minister for Urban Affairs will use his power and influence to change the
way smart city officials and those of BMC look at greening of the once-green Bhopal.
There is much at stake that includes the city’s climate and wellbeing of its
citizens
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