High Court issues notice to governments on a petition against proposed felling of 5,000 trees in Zirakpur-Panchkula section.

The ruthless cutting of rare trees must stop Editorial: On an average, news of the arrival of leopards in some part of India or the other in human-populated areas is read every third day. Similarly, not a fortnight passes when there is no incident of death of an animal or a human due to a clash between leopards and humans. The main reason for such clashes is: the decreasing number of forests, especially dense forests. Apart from the Supreme Court, there is no High Court in the country where petitions against the ruthless cutting of trees in the name of so-called 'developmental' projects are not under hearing. Just six days ago, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice to the concerned state and central governments on a petition against the proposed felling of 5,000 trees in the Zirakpur-Panchkula section of the Zirakpur-Panchkula-Parwanoo-Kurali Bypass (also known as the Tricity Bypass). The tragic side of the situation is that despite the voices being raised from different corners of the country against the clearing of forests and trees, not even a lice is reaching the ears of the governments. They are not even showing any sincerity towards planting alternative forests in place of the cut and destroyed trees. This kind of indifferent approach is not only weakening the green cover of the country, but is also destroying the concept of coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Taking serious note of the gradual destruction of the Aravalli mountain range in Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court has constituted a committee of experts to identify and mark the remaining hills and re-cover them with forests or shrubs. Instead of providing proper support to this committee, two senior officers of the Indian Forest Service in Haryana are busy shining their own lights and dragging each other's feet. This case is about the illegal felling of more than 1000 Khair trees from the Kalesar forest. Khair is a very valuable plant. It does not grow everywhere. It needs a special type of soil and climate to flourish. The illegal loggers also took away the wood of the felled trees while the two officers are still busy in the tug-of-war as to under whose jurisdiction the crime took place. The unfortunate thing is that the matter which should have been settled at the departmental level has now reached the Supreme Court. However, this is not the first such instance in itself. In 2022, a case of illegal felling of Khair trees also took place in the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary of Uttar Pradesh. Some forest officials were also suspended then, but till now the case of illegal felling and theft of wood is limited to the initial hearing only. Khair is used in some medicines, but mainly katha is extracted from it, which is the lifeblood of our country's multi-arabi pan masala industry. Smuggling takes place for this reason. Khair forests in Punjab are mainly in the Kandi region. That is why news of smuggling of Khair wood by a politician's cronies is often in the news in Ropar district.

The direct impact of global warming has now started to be seen in our country. Summers are getting longer, winters have shrunk. Snowfall on the high peaks of the Himalayas is now less. The ruthless cutting of trees is playing a major role in the spread of this phenomenon. In such a situation, it is necessary that on the one hand, while unnecessary urbanization in the name of development is stopped, the destruction of forests should be stopped not just on paper, but in practice. Forest officials and workers are there to protect forests and wildlife, not to provide illegal facilities to resort owners or tourism promoters inside the forests. Similarly, if illegal mining is going on in areas like Aravalli, then it is the fundamental responsibility of the Forest Service to immediately stop it, not of the civilian authorities. Whatever action the police and civilian officers have to take, they do so only after a complaint is received from the forest department. Trees and forests are valuable treasures for humanity. It is the responsibility and duty of every ordinary citizen to protect them like a treasure.