In 2007, as part of the widening of Sardar Patel Road, nearly 80 rain trees came under threat, some above 80 years old. There were hardly any tree protection group at the time, and the NGO Nizhal, still in its nascent stages, protested, suggesting alternatives such as using a service lane. “Our protest did not succeed because we could not generate enough public mobilisation and, eventually, the trees were cut,” says T D Babu, marine biologist and trustee of Nizhal. But the incident highlighted the importance of having an inventory of trees in public spaces and the NGO subsequently undertook tree mapping and documented the existing trees.Twenty years on, Nizhal is part of the state green committee. It has saved trees that would otherwise have been uprooted for projects such as stormwater drains and metro rail stations. A recent example is on that very same Sardar Patel Road, says Babu. “Through Nizhal’s intervention and insistence on retaining trees, a minor realignment of the project was considered. As a result, a third of the trees that would otherwise have been lost were saved. Another 12% were transplanted.”A lot of tree planting goes on in the city, but most of it is insensitive, with no awareness of the right kind of trees or how to care for them, says Shobha Menon, founder. “Once we started identifying spaces and school campuses to initiate sensitive planting, we got on to the idea of tree walks in neighbourhoods to orient citizens to knowing trees around them. As we went on walks, we found instances of tree abuse like boards and lights around them and started the ‘Free the Tree Campaign’.Other initiatives included turning a five-acre PWD dumpyard into the Kotturpuram urban forest and the green prisons programme, which introduced organic farming and bountiful kitchen gardens across prisons statewide.“We drafted Tamil Nadu’s first proposed Tree Act and submitted it to the J Jayalalithaa govt in 2009. We continue to put pressure on the govt to bring in a dedicated Tree Act for Tamil Nadu, as several other states have such legislation,” says Shobha.The organisation continues to advocate proper tree maintenance and tree-health management, including scientific pruning. At present, contractors often undertake pruning based on their own practices or residents’ demands, without adequately considering the structural stability and health of the trees, says Babu. “Advanced pruning equipment is available, but work is often carried out in an unscientific manner.”Nizhal is developing an SOP for urban parks. “Parks should provide ecological services rather than merely serving as visually attractive, highly concretised spaces,” says Shobha. “The recent development of Nageswara Rao Park is an example of the concerns we have raised. Urban parks should be more nature-centric rather than human-centric, with greater emphasis on greenery and less on concrete.”They had also raised concerns about the indiscriminate promotion of Miyawaki forests. “Planting trees too closely without providing adequate space can create problems and reduce their effectiveness,” Babu says.Over the decades, a multitude of environmentawl and tree protection agencies have come up, but despite their efforts, Chennai’s tree cover remains at 14% as against the generally recommended benchmark of 33% and continues to decline. “We can only make recommendations and work towards sensitising the community. The govt needs to do the rest,” says Shobha.
