Recently, a 40 year-old Rain tree and a 25-year old Neem tree were chopped down in Kothrud by a builder. Though the trees were cut with official permission, no one seems to like that. It takes so many years to grow these trees, but takes only a few hours to bring them down. Likewise, 2,578 trees have been cut with official permission in the city in the last three years alone, fast depleting the green cover of the city. Alarmingly, the city has lost 7.24 sq km of vegetated area due to urbanization in the 1999-2009 periods alone. A study conducted by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in 2009 showed that day-time temperatures in Pune city during summers had seen a rise after 1991.
– Temperature in summers between 1991-2009 has gone up by 0.5 degrees Celsius.
– March temperatures in same period is up by 0.4 degrees Celsius
– April temperatures in same period is up by 0.9 degrees Celsius
– May temperatures in same period up by 0.2 degrees Celsius
Trees are an inseparable part of our surroundings. But Pune has now become a concrete jungle. Those who cut the trees should make sure that they not only plant 10 other tress but also grow them.
