PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Angered by large-scale tree-felling under the garb of ‘development’, several Dehradun residents observed ‘Black Harela’ on Thursday and boycotted the annual tree plantation programmes held to mark Harela festival. They alleged that trees are being indiscriminately cut in the name of development projects, stripping the city of its green cover and causing a sharp spike in temperature.
They termed the government’s one-day plantation campaign on Harela a ‘token exercise’ that means nothing. “Celebrating Harela with pomp and show is an absolutely meaningless exercise when the environment is being destroyed every other day,” the aggrieved residents said.
The call for ‘Black Harela’ came after recent felling of trees for the widening of the Rishikesh–Bhaniyawala highway.
A local resident, Vinay Sharma said that he, along with his family, used to plant trees every year on Harela at designated spots in their society complex. “This time, we completely boycotted it. It feels wasteful. While we plant trees, the State government cuts them, citing development. A one-day plantation drive is just a formality sans any significance for us,” he said.
Gauri Chauhan, another resident, echoed the same anguish and said, “Our society holds a plantation drive every Harela. But over the past few years the environment has deteriorated due to the felling of decades-old trees. The State government is aware but remains silent. Celebrating Harela and planting trees for one day doesn’t make sense anymore. That is why we decided not to celebrate the festival in our society this year.”
Several other residents shared similar views and stayed away from the plantation drive.
A noted social activist and founding president of the Rajpur Community Initiative, Reenu Paul supported the residents’ move.
“The decision to observe Black Harela and skip plantation is justified. Many trees have already been felled and the upcoming projects show the same destructive trend. The authorities are not only harming trees by felling them, but also damaging those which are not cut by cementing around their bases. In bad weather, these trees fall,” she rued.
She urged the government to read the writing on the wall-the people’s growing resentment-and frame policies that balance ecology and economy. “They are now focusing only on the economy at the expense of ecology,” she said.
