Irreparable Loss: 1000 Trees Cut In Odisha To Build A Helipad For PM Modi’s Arrival

Thousand trees have been cut to make way for a temporary helipad to welcome PM Modi, the Hindu reported.

The Prime Minister is expected to visit Balangir town of Odisha and the felling has irked environment activists. Reportedly, under urban plantation programme that was undertaken in 2016, saplings were planted on 2.25 hectares controlled by the Indian Railways.

We wish for a time when we are more responsible towards other things living alongside us on planet earth. When it comes to trees, we seemed to have decided that no thought will be given before deciding to cut out main source of oxygen.

A vacant plot was needed for he construction of the helipad, therefore, 1.25 hectares of land had to be cleared. An environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty said even if a small patch of plantation had to be cut, authorities were required to take due permission before felling the trees.

Once plantation programme is taken up in a land, trees cannot be cut down without prior permission.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to flag off the inaugural run of a train on the Khurda-Balangir railway line before addressing a public meeting in the western Odisha town on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a local environmentalist in Ghaziabad complained that at least 60 neem trees had been cut in the Central Bureau Of Investigation Academy. Activist Pradeep Sunpura told TOI that the felling had been carried out by a resident on campus.
Mr Pradhan added: “It is the local administration which decides as to where the prime minister’s helicopter will land.”