Guwahati: Amid growing concerns among citizens over rapid deforestation and shrinking wetlands, the forest department has announced that a plantation drive will be carried out in and around the Deepor Beel area, where saplings amounting to ten times the number of trees felled will be planted.This comes after concerns over tree cutting for the railway’s elevated corridor project.Kamrup East DFO Ashok Kumar Dev Choudhary said, “If 100 trees are cut, 1,000 saplings will be planted in their place.”He said this would be done in accordance with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) guideline, commonly referred to as the 1:10 compensatory plantation rule, under which ten saplings are planted for every tree felled as part of a development project.“The elevated corridor project, which is expected to take about 2.5 years to complete, was approved after being examined and cleared by the Wildlife Institute of India- Dehradun, the principal chief conservator of Forests (Wildlife), and the general manager of Northeast Frontier Railway,” the DFO said.This comes after the residents living near Deepor Beel submitted a memorandum seeking the immediate translocation of the trees being felled, which the DFO said was not possible, as the earmarked trees lying along the alignment of the railway’s elevated corridor, have already crossed the stage suitable for translocation.Residents and environmental activists have raised concerns that the removal of trees near an ecologically sensitive wetland could have a serious environmental impact.“More than 100 trees have been cut. They play an important role in maintaining ecological balance and protecting the wetland ecosystem. We were assured that felling would be minimised and environmental sustainable measures would be adopted, but none of it was implemented,” said Pramod Kalita, a local environmental activist.He added that the conditions were laid down by the deputy inspector general of forests (central).
