Keonjhar: Thousands of trees planted on the median island of National Highway-49 passing through Keonjhar town have withered and disappeared within a year due to lack of proper upkeep. As a result, funds worth lakhs spent on the plantation have gone down the drain. Commuters and locals have been taken aback by the sudden disappearance of the trees. Fresh plantation drive has also not been undertaken, locals said.
Sources said plants of different varieties were planted on the central median and roadsides of the national highway passing through this town. However, due to lack of proper maintenance, saplings planted on the median island from Belda to Drupada and from Anjar to Suakati on the highway dried up in less than a year of their plantation. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) during construction of the highway had planted saplings of trees including bougainvillea, calliandra, sugar apple (Sitaphala) and tecoma on different stretches of the median island.
An agency was appointed for the job. Now with the saplings and trees doing a vanishing act, many wonder whether they had been planted in the first place. In the absence of plants, commuters and drivers are blinded by the powerful light of vehicles coming from the opposite direction. This has led to a number of accidents in the locality. Environmentalist Pradip Mohanty said that the saplings could have survived if the plantation had been done during the monsoon. Advocate Suraj Mohapatra has demanded a probe into the matter and fresh plantation on the median island.