By D N Singh
A report had come in recent times that, we have lost more than one crore precious and yielding trees to the purpose of road construction and expansion.
In today’s focus is the century old banyan tree standing as a heritage on the bosom of Master Canteen. It was learnt that the said tree, with a sprawling expanse of branches cooling a huge area under its foliage-rich aura, is likely to be razed down for the road expansion.
But, in last ten years, not even one lakh trees have been planted.
Smartness not necessarily be brought to the fore by hollowing a heritage which may not be replaced or relocated.
The three in mention is more than a century old and is a house to a huge population of birds and nocturnal species those who make the evenings special spelling a nostalgia of generations.
The tree is located almost in front of a hotel called Jajati and offers respite to hundreds of commuters in the summer solstice of Bhubaneswar.
However, this piece is intended to plead for the religious activities under it which has slowly grown to be avoidably institutional and commercial, without any reasons to be there.
From a small temple structure with some bells sounded in the evenings, such structures are allowed to grow and expand as religious destinations for thousands.
On Sunday, there was group led by the People for Animal, which staged a protest under the tree to spare it from the claws of development. If a right plan can be envisaged such assets can be saved
In the recent times also for the expansion of a road leading towards Puri, more than one hundred trees were mindlessly felled among which there were quite a number of trees which had been there for centuries and half centuries.
Not a blade of grass gas been grown there around to compensate such a mammoth loss of bio-diversity.
