The city with a green blanket seated in the laps of hills has lost its old charm to the evils of development in the last few years. Remembering the old Pune roads, many will agree that roads like Ganeshkhind Road, Karve Road, Sinhagad Road, Jungli Maharaj Road, Fergusson College Road, etc., have lost their green cover.
PMC, PCMC have undertaken initiatives like tree adoption, plantation, free tree distribution etc. besides planting new trees, it’s necessary to preserve existing trees first.
Streets are lined with trees all over the city. But what is the condition of these trees? Worse, paver blocks laid on pavements as part of beautification drives are packed so close around the bases of existing trees that the trees get strangulated because of the blocks. It has observed that the paver blocks used while laying footpaths are responsible for the uprooting of fully grown trees. The contractors have not kept enough margins around tree trunks while constructing the pavements using paver blocks. These trees would die within a year due to the absence of a ring margin required for water percolation and air circulation. The concrete cover affects the growth of the tree as there is no breathing space. This can lead to death of the tree.
The city’s green cover needs to be protected and paver blocks should not be allowed to damage trees.
