Killing century-old trees, officially

The entire move would have gone unnoticed had a bird-watcher Suresh Sharma not alerted the green brigade. Born and brought-up in Sonepat, he has been roaming the country-side with his binoculars ever since he can remember. In spite of a regular job at the Ministry of Defence, he finds time every weekend for his passion.

‘‘These rest house trees are the last refuge for the birds after the destruction of wetlands and the massive felling of trees in the state to make space for agricultural land over the last 30 years,’’ says Sharma.

‘‘The compounds have become natural bird sanctuaries which need to be protected for maintaining Haryana’s wildlife diversity,’’ wrote the Pune-based NGO, Kalpavriksha, in a letter to the chief minister, making a fervent plea to save the rest houses and the trees.

A visit to any one of these guest houses is punctuated by bird calls of every possible variety. Sharma points to an old mango tree which has a nest of the rare Egyptian vulture. ‘‘They have been nesting for the last five years at the same spot.’’ He remembers the excitement when bird-watchers from all over the country came to test his claim of spotting the Sindh sparrow in Haryana, a bird only found in Pakistan.

The founder of Kalpavriksha, Ashish Kothari, who has been at the forefront of the effort to protect forests and wildlife, has demanded that the Chautala government must stop the further sale of rest houses till a workable mechanism for ensuring protection of the ancient trees could be put in place.

As Haryana does not have any laws preventing tree felling from private lands other than lands under section 4 and 5 of the the Land Preservation Act, the danger is that all the trees could be mercilessly chopped off.

Madhu Sarin of Kalpavriksha claims that plantation of the fast growing species along roads, canals and on wastelands are ‘‘no substitutes for ecological benefits and wildlife habitat provided by old trees of native species.’’

The urgent need to protect such trees are included in the chapter on biodiversity strategy action plan for the state. The state Commissioner of Environment, D S Dhesi when asked about the danger of these trees being felled said that he stood by the government’s decision.

Locals are at the forefront of the effort to protect them. Says Pratap Singh, who has been the caretaker for the Chota thana canal rest house spread in 11 acres: ‘‘A banyan tree with a trunk 20 feet in radius is good enough reason for the locals to walk to the local Junior Engineer’s office and express their anger at this decision. We will protest if anybody comes to buy this land. These trees are part of us now.’’

‘‘Why can’t it be handed to the department of tourism, that way at least they can be looked after,’’ the local villagers offer a solution. Kalpavriksha provides several alternatives to tide over the paucity of funds: Handing them over to the forest department, to local women’s groups or panchayats (see box).

Sharma has been taking his 10-year-old son to the six canal rest houses in Sonepat. Today, he fears that by the time the kid learns to identify the call of the scops owls or to spot the Egyptians vultures they would have long abandoned Sonepat.