Smriti Upvana- a distant memory

CHANDIGARH, June 23: On November 14 1988, the beginning of the Jawaharlal Nehru birth centenary, the then Chandigarh Administrator S. S. Ray...

CHANDIGARH, June 23: On November 14 1988, the beginning of the Jawaharlal Nehru birth centenary, the then Chandigarh Administrator S. S. Ray had planted a Banyan tree brought from Calcutta to inaugurate a memorial park, the Smriti Upavana. Now, 10 years on, the area is a neglected growth of eucalyptus, acacia and a few other tree species with only a crumbling foundation stone as evidence of its quot;parkquot; status.

The Smriti Upavana was intended to be a place to plant trees in memory of the dead; for a small fee paid to the Save Sukhna Lake Society, those planting the memorial trees were to be supplied with a sapling, a planting site and a small plaque bearing the name of the person remembered and those who planted the tree. The forest department was to maintain the park. For the first two, three years the project worked well.

Now here comes the problem: the payments went onto the credit side of the Save Sukhna Lake Society ledger, but maintenance costs were very much on the debit side of the Forest Department books. As the years passed, apathy, divided responsibility and lack of water resulted in a high rate of sapling mortality.

Only the hardiest of trees grow in the Smriti Upavana now. According to District Forest Officer H. S. Sohal: quot;In 1991 Government declared the area a reserved forest area which, among other things, means that entry is with permission only. But being in the city this rule is difficult to enforce.quot;

He attributes the poor survival rate of the memorial trees to lack of sunlight 8230; quot;they are in the shade of bigger trees and do not survive. We are searching for another site on which to renew the project.quot;

Y. Sabu, an industrialist who was among the first few persons approached by the Save Sukhna Lake Society to donate money for plantation, regrets quot;It was a good idea but now I suppose those beautiful gates will never be opened. I have never gone there since the time when the park was begun. I would certainly have visited the place again if it had come up as a park.quot;