Development Vs Environment issue
PrashantNews
This funeral of trees was on Sunday turned out to be a catharsis for many concerned Doon citizens.
Wearing sombre white clothes, they gathered for a bigger cause – the death of trees in the Doon Valley. They once again mounted a campaign to express their concern at the depleting green cover. These people assembled at the Ashok pillar at Parade Ground to be part of ‘shav yatra’ (funeral procession) for thousands of trees that have been either felled or ready to be axed for various development projects in Dehradun.
A procession of silent people, with black bands tied around their mouths, walked from Parade Ground to the Secretariat carrying the arthi (bier) of trees with them.
Jyotsna, Ajay Sharma, Vijay Bhatt and Karan spoke to the gathering at the end of the shav yatra. A nukkad natak was also presented. Members from various groups of Dehradun along with dozens of citizens were part of this shav yatra.
Through this novel campaign, the citizens of Dehradun appealed to the government to reconsider the current development plan. “We are all part of same ecosystem and by mercilessly felling trees we are preparing ‘arthi’ not only for ourselves but for our children also,” said Ira Chauhan, a member of the Citizens for Green Doon.
Tree graveyard refers to the area near the Rajeev Gandhi cricket stadium in Dehradun where hundreds of dead trees stand. These trees were translocated from Sahastradhara road two years ago but none of them survived.