Under the greenwood tree…

As it transpired a few weeks ago she dared to do something that most citizens would not even dream of doing. Pujashree stood up and complained against her neighbour who axed a fig tree and was in the process of felling another.

Pujashree recalls that when she was in Class VIII she was at her wits’ end when the same neighbour axed branches and leaves of a mango-bearing tree which she had adored for long. However,this time when the girl came back from school she went straight to her mother and said that she wanted to lodge a complaint with the police. With words of advice from Rita Banerjee,her Nature Club teacher,and her mother Kakoli Burman in tow,Pujashree lodged an FIR against her neighbour. She also went to the local KMC office but as it was a weekend she had to come back.

“When I returned from school a couple of weeks ago,I found to my horror that the fig tree near my apartment has been axed. I was shocked to see the huge tree lying on the footpath with its leaves and branches strewn all over the place. I knew what he had done was illegal as he did not have the right to cut down the tree. There was another tree next to the fig tree and which I can see from my bedroom. He was even planning to cut that down. He has done it before and I knew he had to be stopped this time round,” said Pujashree.

Pujashree recalls that when she went to meet her neighbour she was shooed away and he refused to acknowledge his fault.

“All I wanted to know was if he had any clearance from the KMC. He said he did although he refused to show me the papers,” she said.

After lodging the FIR,Pujashree and her father,Dr Bhupesh Burman,a Central government employee,went to the forest department to inform its officials about the felling of the tree. Pujashree’s father spoke to an official and the department promised to visit the spot for an inspection.

“Saving trees is our duty. Cyclone Aila has uprooted so many trees. Nature is our life and it gives us our existence. I have learnt all this from my family and my grandparents. When I was young my grandparents used to stay in Budge Budge. They used to come to the city to buy saplings and plants. I have been moulded that way. This man should be penalised for axing trees and I am eagerly waiting for an action against him,” said a determined Pujashree.