Hukun Chand Mill deforestation: Maintain Eco-balance for betterment of city: Experts

••• Environmentalists came to the field to awaken the people who have understood the importance of oxygen in Corona

*A jungle of cement concrete

*Will kill thousands of trees

••• Start of Gandhian movement to avert the danger looming over thousands of trees due to cutting of three trees

Kirti Rana

Indore. In the city which has understood the tragedy of Corona and the importance of oxygen four years ago, cutting of trees has started on 42 acres of land of Hukam Chand Mill to build a jungle of cement-concrete in place of a forest of thousands of trees. At present, a handful of people have come to the field to save the lives of these five thousand trees. If the city knows the value of trees, environment and breath, then many Sundarlal Bahugunas can come forward to shake the government to save these trees, otherwise these handful of people will be satisfied that when the city will write the history of those who remain silent, it will also be written that there were some people who were working to wake up the sleeping ones to save the lives of these voiceless trees.

Chief Minister Yadav did the historic work of distributing the due amount of 224 crores to the workers of Hukam Chand Mill on Atal ji’s birthday. The workers were happy that they got their dues and now the government and the mill’s land should know. The state government has also announced to implement the Hukam Chand Mill’s land model on other textile mills.

▪️Why is it necessary to save the natural forest of Hukam Chand Mill?

Labor leader Shyam Sundar Yadav called upon the residents of the city to join this campaign. Yadav said that Indore is a rapidly growing commercial city. For a better commercial city, as much as commercial facilities are required, it is equally important to have natural greenery. Natural greenery makes any city worth living. If we look at the condition of greenery in the rapidly growing Indore city, many questions arise. The greenery is decreasing day by day. Illegal cutting of trees is increasing and people’s sensitivity towards trees is also gradually decreasing. This is a matter of concern and it seems necessary for us to improve the environmental condition of Indore. As a result, the condition of surface and groundwater in the city is becoming worrisome and the air quality is also deteriorating.

Comrade Ajay Lagoo and Arvind Porwal said that various studies have made it clear that at present the greenery in the urban area has barely become 9-10 percent and in the year 2023, the Green City Index of the city also became 9. It is well known that trees, being long-lived, play the most important role in environmental protection and balance. A few years ago, Smart City had counted 05 lakh trees in 26 wards. Based on this, there are an estimated 10 lakh trees in the city. The study of IIT, Indore also estimated the number of trees to be 9 to 10 lakh, in which about 2 lakh are old fully grown trees. The number of trees is very less as compared to the urban population (more than 36 lakh) and the number of registered vehicles (about 34 lakh). According to another estimate of IIT, Indore, about one and a half lakh trees were cut for various development schemes in the last 5 years.

▪️City’s temperature increased due to environmental imbalance

The intellectuals gathered to save the forest said that the weather has also been affected due to environmental imbalance. The average temperature of the city has increased by about 0.5 degree Celsius, and the number of heat wave days has increased in April-May. Rainy days have decreased, but the intensity of rainfall (more rainfall in less time) has increased. Abhay Jain, who is continuously active in saving water, forest and land, told that when he suddenly reached the mill’s land on Saturday night, three big trees were uprooted with the help of a JCB machine. These three trees are also included in the count of trees in the premises. These trees are numbered 2, 28 and 32. The cruelty and desperation with which these forests, the lifeblood of the city, are being slowly destroyed.

▪️Due to impractical-short-sighted decisions, lakhs of trees have already been sacrificed

Dr Dilip Vaghela said that due to impractical and short-sighted decisions for material development, lakhs of trees have already been sacrificed at many places in Indore and the results of which have started coming. Therefore, we request the government to stop this on priority basis keeping in mind the health of all the people of Indore city and the coming generation.

A report of the country’s NITI Aayog has warned that by the year 2030, there will be a serious water crisis in 30 cities of the country including Indore. In a study conducted by IIT, Indore, Indore has been ranked 19th in terms of water crisis. According to the report of the Central Ground Water Board, groundwater exploitation in the city is in the critical category, which is more than 90%. Till the year 2013, the ground water level remained low for only three months in the summer season, but now this period is found to be more than four months.

▪️It is unfortunate that the Kanh , Saraswati rivers are not pollution free even after decades

Regarding the campaign being run by Abhyas Mandal along with other organizations for river improvement for years, Shivaji Mohite said that the Kanh and Saraswati rivers have not been able to get rid of pollution despite many efforts. The quality of drinking water supplied from Narmada has also been found to be questionable in many areas. Out of the 26 ponds identified in the urban limits, illegal encroachments have been found in the demarcation report of 18 ponds. According to an information published in the year 2023, the condition of 550 wells and stepwells in the urban area is also not satisfactory.
The condition of the city is also worrying in terms of air quality. Despite Indore being selected in the National Clean Air Program and the International Clean Air Catalyst Program, the expected improvement in air quality has not happened. In the National Clean Air Program, a target was set to bring down the amount of PM10 to 55 micrograms/cubic meter by the year 2025-26, but this target has not been achieved yet. New hotspots of air pollution are developing in some of the city’s eating places and traffic jam areas. This is having an adverse effect on people’s health, and asthma and respiratory diseases are increasing.

🟠A plant becomes a tree in 30 years, the plants planted today will give partial benefits after ten years

Environmentalist Dr. OP Joshi said that it takes 30 years for a plant to become a full-fledged tree. The plants that are being planted now will start giving partial benefits only after at least 10 years. In such a situation, the right of the local people to live a healthy life is also being violated. The only natural forest of the city should be preserved and saved for the better life of the people of this city.

Along with tree felling, the number of trees falling in the city is also increasing. On 4, 5 and 6 May this year, 250 trees fell in the storm and 50 trees were damaged due to breaking of big branches. The condition of the city’s gardens and green belts is also bad, and there is encroachment at many places. In view of this, there is a need to take concrete steps to save the city’s environment.

▪️The sympathizers of trees reached in the pouring rain, took an oath to save thousands of trees through Gandhian movement
The Gandhian movement to save the natural forest on the land of Hukam Chand Mill has started from Monday afternoon. Environment lovers Shyam Sundar Yadav, Dr. OP Joshi, Dr. Shankar Lal Garg, Shivaji Mohite, Sandeep Khanvilkar, Ajay Lagoo, Arvind Porwal, Ashok Golane, Abhay Jain, Harish Menaria, Prakash Soni, Rajendra Singh, Mukesh Verma, Dr. Rajendra Bafna, Gurmeet Singh Chhabra, Chandra Shekhar Gawli, Rahul Singh, Tarun Dwivedi, Manoj Dixit, Pramod Namdev, Laxman Singh Chauhan, Praneeta Dixit etc. who gathered here in the pouring rain, also took an oath under the trees that we will keep doing every possible effort to save the trees .

How will we pay the debt of the trees

The struggle of the workers of Hukum Chand Mill continued for a long time and finally, on the orders of the High Court, their deposited capital was arranged by the Housing Board. Along with this, other liabilities were also settled and in return the Housing Board received 42 acres of land of the mill, in which the participation of the Municipal Corporation was also ensured because originally the Municipal Corporation was the owner of this land. More than five thousand trees in the natural forest of the mill land have been helpful in the better health of the city, who will pay their debt, how, everyone is silent on this
The Housing Board has proposed 25.40 acres of this land for commercial use, in which real estate developers and builders have been invited for the construction of shopping malls, hotels, multiplexes, IT parks and other high-rise buildings. On February 25, interested developers will be able to discuss directly by submitting their proposals, which has been organized as a pre-bid meeting. Their suggestions will also be included in this meeting. Besides, this project will also be presented at the Global Investors Summit to be held in Bhopal so that investors from across the country can get information about it.