PANJIM: The Imagination of the Smart City team seems to be beyond imagination. Even as tree lovers alleged a midnight murder of the 200-year-old Banyan tree, to make matters worse, the place in Campal where it was initially placed, turned out to be the incorrect one.
Hence the tree was yanked out again and moved to another spot about 25 metres away. People from Panjim did not find this cruel joke funny.
The 200-year-old banyan tree felled for the ongoing Smart City work at St Inez and translocated in the premises of football ground at Campal, Panjim, on Sunday, was yet again relocated and replanted a few metres away at the same site on Monday.
Condemning the repeated brutality unleashed against the hapless banyan tree by shifting it for the second time, Goa Green Brigade convenor Avertino Miranda, speaking to O Heraldo, said, “The authorities have committed a midnight murder of the tree. This is a blatant violation by the so-called Smart City officials. The brutality has spelled a death knell to the tree.”
The Goa Green Brigade also condemned the role of the police inspector in providing protection to the violators who were brutally cutting down the tree when they had no permission to cut it.
“In the first instance last Friday, past midnight the tree was brutally chopped of all its branches in violation of the translocation permission granted by the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ponda. This permission never allowed the cutting of the branches of the tree. When we questioned the Police Inspector on duty that ‘Black Friday midnight’, he threatened to arrest the environmentalists for questioning him as to why he was providing protection to violators,” he said.
“The second glaring violation was the absence of the Range Forest Officer (RFO) during the brutal chopping and translocation of the tree. The requirement for the presence of RFO during the translocation was one of the key conditions put by the Deputy Conservator of Forests while issuing the permission last month. However, the RFO was missing from the scene last Friday at midnight,” Miranda said.
“Once again, the PSI threatened us for questioning saying: “Do what you want? I will allow the cutting of the Banyan tree. We condemn this high-handedness and abuse of power by the PI who was allowing these gross violations with a large police force. The Goa Police instead of upholding the law, were seen clearly allowing the so-called Smart City officials (violators) to destroy the tree,” he said and demanded action against the police officers for abuse of power and dereliction of duty.
Historian and heritage activist Prajal Sakhardande said, “Age-old heritage trees are being mercilessly slaughtered in our beautiful capital city. Panjim was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Smart City project money-making racketeers have finished our city. Two beautiful heritage trees have been cut at the altar of so-called development. One banyan tree has been so called translocated, but it will not survive. Our green heritage of Panjim is being desecrated by these unscrupulous authorities.”
Activist Xencor Polgi said, “The way the trees are being cut and forests destroyed, the people of Goa must come out and register their protest. If this is not done, then we will not even get oxygen to breathe. The current government is hell-bent on destroying the environment. It has destroyed almost everything, be it trees or forest.”