Standing mature trees are an anathema to the State, or so it seems in Adilabad district, where felling of trees does not evoke any response from authorities. Take for instance the clearing of the Karthika Vanam section of Gandhi Park in Adilabad town, where incidentally the Forest and Environment Minister Jogu Ramanna lives, or the felling of huge old neem trees on the Gudihatnoor-Utnoor road a few months back as part of road-widening works.
As the felling of trees, apparently to raise new plants in the park came in the midst of the Telanganaku Haritha Haram plantation drive, it is sticking out like a sore thumb.
And so do the huge stumps of felled trees still lying by the side of the Gudihatnoor-Utnoor road between Tosham and Dhanora.
Park authorities have felled 500 subabul trees which had formed part of the 3-acre Karthika Vanam which itself was developed under a tree plantation drive a decade ago. Over a period of time the trees had grown into a thick jungle making the park the lung space in town.
“We needed to cut down the trees as they had grown old and some of these had even fallen during a storm in summer,” said Gandhi Park Development Committee convenor and Adilabad District Sports Development Officer N. Sudhakar Rao. “Besides, that section had emerged as a hotspot for amorous dalliances for the youth and had become a breeding place for snakes,” he added by way of giving reasons for removing the trees.
“The clearing will have fresh plantation in the shape of flowering and fruiting plants,” the park committee convenor revealed. “It will be developed into a proper environmentally rich place eventually,” he asserted.
Another aspect in this regard was pointed out by those who take the early morning walk in the Indira Priyadarshni stadium, opposite the Gandhi Park. “The stumps were piled upon a few score of saplings which were meant to be planted as part of THH,” lamented a walker not wanting to be quoted.
The huge neem trees which were felled on the Gudihatnoor-Utnoor road could have been spared if the engineers had used a little bit of imagination for widening the existing road. As these trees were not infringing deeper into the area meant for widening, realignment of the road by a couple of feet could have done the trick.
