Citizens have formed a watchdog organisation in Pune, using the Maharashtra Preservation and Protection of Trees Act to save trees from the axe and lobby the local administration to protect and propagate trees.
If I could turn back the clock it would be to the time the huge 100-plus-year-old banyan tree near my house was cut down. I'm still not sure why the tree was felled. I remember feeling utterly helpless.
Not anymore. With Pune Tree Watch (PTW) and public participation using the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation and Protection of Trees 1975 Act, trees can now be saved. The Act is applicable to all urban areas within the state of Maharashtra; Delhi and Karnataka have their own Acts.
PTW is about empowering citizens and working with the government to preserve trees in cities. Initiated by the environment action group Kalpavriksh in July 2005, Pune's citizens have organised themselves under one banner -- Pune Tree Watch -- to protect trees wherever possible. This is one example where citizens have joined hands 'virtually' through an e-group (punetreewatch@yahoogroups.com) to help save trees and spread awareness about a policy that's relevant to the city. PTW also has its own website (www.punetreewatch.org) to enable documentation and dissemination of the work it does.
PTW supports citizens who report incidents of tree-felling and encourages them to take that first step towards doing something about it, whilst also maintaining a parallel follow-up and monitoring system with the city's garden department (GD).
Sometimes, though, trees are cut after permission has been taken and people realise this only once the felling has begun. Thus began the quest to understand exactly how the system works.
Through its sustained involvement, PTW has become an action group where pertinent issues are systematically raised. The organisation's latest project is a set of recommendations for the preservation and propagation of trees along roads and at construction sites, which has been accepted by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). This implies an improvement in standards and increase in the reservation of space in any construction for tree plantation and water percolation.
Pune's trees have legal local guardians in the form of two government agencies: the Pune Tree Authority (PTA) and the Garden Department (GD), both belonging to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). While the PTA is the main decision-making body, headed by the chairman, namely the municipal commissioner, the GD is the implementing agency.
The Trees Act mandates that:
Permission is sought from the Tree Authority (TA) before any tree is cut.
A public notice is affixed on the tree seeking public objection within seven days.
Formation of a TA consisting of 15 members elected from the general body of the local urban authority, and five to 15 members nominated by the first 15 members.
Illegal tree-felling will attract a fine of Rs 5,000 or a prison term of a week to a year.
Applications for felling trees in Pune are filed together in what is called a 'docket'. This docket is a record listing all development work, including housing construction in the city. It is then announced in any random paper, inviting objections within seven days. After consistent efforts by PTW, the docket is now being published on the PMC website.
When the docket is released, site visits are conducted to verify the need to fell the tree and to suggest possibilities that could save it. A meeting of the PTA is called thereafter and the 'objectors' invited to a public hearing. This is the citizen space PTW uses to make its presence felt.
With the cooperation of the GD, PTA, road department and others, PTW has saved many trees from the axe. Examples include construction for an international convention centre on Senapati Bapat Road where the group was able to save almost 25 trees by proposing small design changes. Another example is Shastri Nagar Road and Lahane Path where PTW suggested loops around the trees to create stormwater drainage. The trees along these paths are still standing proud, shading passersby from the sun. Similarly, PTW 'rescued' 24 trees at the Vaikunth Mehta Institute by suggesting a similar looping method to build a wall.
Despite Pune's trees being steadily cut down, the PMC claims tree cover in the city has increased dramatically despite an increase in construction activities. Meanwhile, a tree census (which is supposed to take place every five years) has been due since 1996.
In February 2007, led by PTW, a group of 30 environment and civil society groups from Pune successfully campaigned for the nomination of experts to the PTA. The current PTA has three experts on board.
By Tasneem Balasinorwala
Source: http://www.infochangeindia.org/EnvironmentIstory.jsp?recordno=5035&storyofchangev=EnvironmentIstory.jsp§ion_idv=6
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