Khordha/Bolagarh: Trees planted only a few years ago on both sides of National Highway-57 connecting Khordha and Bolangir are being cut down at night to avoid protests, locals have said. They have added that the trees are being chopped off for the ongoing expansion of a portion of the national highway.
While many are not averse to trees being cut for NH expansion, what the environmentalists are opposing is the shoddy planning or the possible corruption during the plantation drive carried out so close to the NH unmindful of future expansion plans.
“These trees were planted only five to seven years ago. Now the same trees are being cut down. The money spent on plantation has now gone down the drain. Who will pay for it,” questioned a local man.
“If the government money is being wasted it is only because of some greedy and unscrupulous officers. It cannot be ignored by just terming it as a lack of foresight. Only an enquiry will reveal the motive behind planting trees and then felling them in a matter of years,” another man said.
The expansion work is presently going on between Kapasia and Chuda. The trees planted on both sides of the stretch only five to seven years ago are being cut down. And this is being done at night to avoid any kind of protest.
These trees could have been translocated, but that has not been done, some environmentalists observed.
“The officers are apparently competing for spending government money. In this process, they are hardly watchful to check the misuse of funds,” said environmentalist Bibhuti Bhushan Dash.
Dash, along with other nature lovers and local residents have urged the government and the administration to carry out similar future plantation drives judiciously, with expansion plans in mind, to ensure this fiasco is not repeated.
PNN