Chandigarh, February 23
In first of its kind experiment in the city, the forest department has transplanted 250 fully grown trees of shisham and other species in southern parts of the city. Such an experiment has been successfully tried by Delhi.
These trees which were to be cut to make way for different development projects, have been given a new lease of life. At a site in Sector 51, at least 33 shisham trees have been transplanted after these were removed from a proposed parking lot at the Sector 43 inter-state bus terminus.
A trench has been dug to save the trees from animals and slum dwellers.
A total of 970 trees are being cut at the proposed parking site but 33 were found fit for transplantation.
Deputy conservator of forests, Chandigarh, Ishwar Singh, said the department would have to wait for six months to see if the trees would survive.
Hailing the initiative, environmentalists say it is never too late. The initiative should be replicated in other parts of the city, they say.
The conservator said only trees with up to 60 cm girth and not too old can be transplantated. Reason, older trees have lesser survival tress. He said the high cost involved in transporting trees was often considered a deterrent in taking such an initiative. Such transplantation required a lot of nurturing so as to enable the trees to grow again.
The adviser had advised the departments to be judicious while giving permission to cut trees for private and government projects. It had been stressed that planning should be done to save maximum number of trees and counting of trees should be done at a senior level while examining the request for cutting trees.