Panel Discussion on Delhi’s Vanishing Trees by Trees for Delhi

TreesforDelhi invites all concerned citizens for a panel disccussion on:

Delhi’s Vanishing neighbourhood trees: Is it about trees and transport?

Panelists: Mahesh Rangarajan, ecological historian and political commentator and Prabhakar from Kalpavriksha

The discussion will be moderated by Mr. Ravi Agarwal, Director, ToxicsLink

Date: 20th April 2007, Friday Time: 6.30 p.m.

Venue: Conference Room 1, India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi (In collaboration with India International Centre)

RSVP: Pragya Majumder T: 24320711, 24328006
Email: pragya@toxicslink.org

A brief overview of the discussion topic is as under. 

Delhi’s hundreds of thousands of neighbourhood trees have been in the news for the past few months. But the coverage surrounding them may be relegated to an obituary if the ongoing assault on them reaches the ‘planned levels’ of implementation.

The national capital’s landscape is changing at a shocking pace and many of its citizens have woken up to these changes through sheer shock. Some have found their homes and shops being declared illegal overnight and some, in the context of the issue at hand, have stepped out of their homes to discover the trees in the neighbourhood being butchered on a war footing.

According to one estimate, 30,000 neighbourhood trees have already been felled in the name of modernisation and traffic de-congestion. Another 2,500 trees are to be sacrificed for just a 14km stretch of the High Capacity Bus Service in the ongoing first phase.

The transport planners and the State Government say this is being done to meet the demands of the citizens and trees will have to go to make way for more roads and transport systems. However, the citizens say that neighbourhood trees should not be cut in the name of transport.

The latter feel that urban planning should not be insensitive to the integral part trees play in the ecosystem of the capital city. They are the main source of groundwater replenishment, they reduce groundwater run off and reduce soil erosion as well as providing much needed shade.