INTACH urges Odisha govt to declare old trees as heritage

Bhubaneswar: The INTACH Bhubaneswar chapter has urged the Odisha government to enact a legislation on the lines of Maharashtra law declaring all old trees as heritage and granting them protected status.

The INTACH Bhubaneswar chapter convenor, Anil Dhir, has expressed concern over East Coast Railway’s decision to uproot a heritage tree outside the Lingaraj Road station as part of the station’s expansion and modernisation.

He said a major portion of the tree’s canopy has already been cut to make way for a two-storied building under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme. Ironically, a project board at the site describes the new structure as an “eco-friendly green building”.

The banyan tree, which is estimated to be at least 200 years old and in good condition, could have been preserved by designing the building to accommodate it, with its canopy extending over the platform. However, the authorities have chosen to prune a substantial part of the tree instead.

Dhir said a demarcation line touching the base of the tree was observed marking the site for a new boundary wall. Officials on-site confirmed that the wall would likely be constructed in a way that could damage the roots or lead to the complete felling of the tree. Dhir suggested that the wall could be built around the tree keeping it intact.

The INTCH Bhubaneswar chapter has initiated a project to document and catalogue the heritage trees of Ekamra Kshetra. Dhir said the entire Old Town area is being mapped with every heritage tree being documented.

Experts from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and Botany department of Utkal University are assisting in identifying and assessing the tree’s current condition.

So far, INTACH has identified 250 trees which are over 100 years old in Ekamra Kshetra area, most of which are banyan and peepal trees.

Biswajit Mohanty, a member of INTACH Bhubaneswar chapter, said the Maharashtra government introduced a comprehensive action plan in June 2021 to protect trees older than 50 years in urban areas designating them a “historic trees.” The plan includes guidelines for conservation, determining a tree’s age, conducting tree census, designating plantation areas and imposing fines for unauthorised tree cutting.

According to a September 2021 notification, any tree older than 50 years, regardless of species, qualifies as a heritage tree.

Dhir has written to the Railway authorities urging them to halt construction activities that could harm the banyan tree. He said that during the Ekamra Kshetra Beautification Project undertaken by the previous BJD government, more than 150 trees in and around Lingaraj temple were indiscriminately felled.

On July 15 last year, 14 temples in Old Town here were struck by lightning, including Rameswar temple where the Dadhineuti was totally damaged. Even the Lingaraj temple was hit by two lightning strikes. These incidents were attributed to loss of trees around the temples which previously provided natural protection.