BK Singh
Come elections, has any political party in India ever talked about providing green cover in this country where summer temperature has touched 52 degrees.
Not, that this is the first time when summer temperature has skyrocketed.
Garnering votes with catchy slogans and swaying them emotionally is what most political parties had been doing and succeeding. No body ever thought about environment, the air we breathe, mother nature and this planet.
All types of wars have been waged and are still on but no war has ever been fought to protect mother nature, the environment and greenery.
Most of the states in this country undergo extreme heat but no political party has cared about better livable environment in their manifestoes.
The predominant factor in states of UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan is caste, community and religion.
Candidates are also chosen on the basis of these factors in most of these states.
Even if this remains a necessary evil politicos ought to have thought about our environment.
Wish we had at least one Sundar Lal Bahugunas in each of the above states. In northern and eastern parts of the country criminal cutting of trees had been going in since past over five decades, says Sunil Singh Parihar hailing from Uttar Kashi.
As a child “I still remember the entire span of Ganga covered with floating logs in Rishikesh in 1958.
Forest mafia in cahoots with forest department and others were carrying on reckless felling of trees. This went on further. Millions of trees were butchered.
Cutting trees in the forests of uttarakhand and tossing them into ganga was the easiest way of transportation of logs into the plains without spending a penny.
In Sonbhadra among many other examples jungles in this belt were brazenly cut and trees converted into logs were made to go with the current of Son river and collected at a point in Bihar, said a PCS officer now retired.
Money hungry people plundered mother nature but all it’s tears that were not seen then are taking revenge and they would continuing as long as people and governments do not wake up. Similar cutting of forests and greenery had been going on unabated since decades in the plains of more than half of this country”he laments.
So called clubs, government and semi government organisation wake up at times to plant trees but every thing is over after the photo session and news paper reports next day.
Has anybody ever cared about the future of those saplings that dry up and die within days ?
To some extent things in this country now happen when high courts and supreme court takes cognisance.
The Rajasthan high court while expressing much concern over climate change has also appealed people to take steps to save earth. It has also made several suggestions to the state government. All this was the result of man’s interfering with nature, the court has observed.
Biodiversity has been disturbed due to cutting of trees, the bench observed.
Greater danger to lives lies ahead in case immediate steps are not taken, said Justice Anup Chand Dhand while issuing directions to the state and central government to take steps.
Justice Tushar Rao Gadela of Delhi high court said, the city of Delhi will be converted into desert in case the present generation remained averse to cutting of trees and forests.
Justice MK Gupta and Justice Kshitij Shailendra of Allahabad High Court, following a PIL against cutting of trees in the month of June and July for road widening observed that it was the obligation of the state government to protect the environment under article 47 of the constitution.
Are we really going to wake up or still sleep ?