Saturday, 08 July 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has warned of a hunger strike against the State government if it fails to replant the large number of trees that were cut along Sahastradhara Road for road widening. The ceaseless cutting of trees in the name of development is the main cause of severe waterlogging in Dehradun, claimed AAP.
The party spokesman Ravindra Anand said that thousands of mature trees were cut on Sahastradhara Road but no replantation work is being carried out in the area. He said that the government talks about the overall development but is silent on such an important issue. He said that most of the disasters in the State are because humans tampered with nature. “Severe waterlogging recently witnessed in Dehradun was mainly caused by the cutting of thousands of trees this year as there is nothing to absorb water.
The government is removing trees that were nurtured for decades rather than planting new trees considering the environmental degeneration,” said Anand. He further said that he has been living in Dehradun since birth but never witnessed such waterlogging. He said, “The government conducts a plantation drive every year on the occasion of Harela but what happens to those plants after the drive ends? What is the point of planting a few trees on Harela when thousands of well-nurtured trees are being cut down in the name of development?”
The plantation of saplings on Harela is only limited to photo sessions which is why up to 90 per cent of the plants die. He said that the government should take the replantation work on Sahastradhara Road seriously or else, AAP will start a hunger strike on this issue against the government.
