Protecting the environment is everyone’s job

Trees on the plot, OS-7, at Pawane in Navi Mumbai

Responding to green groups' efforts to save about 200 trees from being axed by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) at Pawane in Navi Mumbai, Airoli MLA Ganesh Naik has asked the state agency not to cut a single tree, a report said in this paper.

The MIDC had earlier planned to allot plots for project-affected people (PAP) in the green patch developed by a private petrochemical company, which had leased out the plot, OS-7.

The lush green lung would have been destroyed had the MIDC gone ahead with its plan to divide the area into small plots under the guise of compensating PAP, an NGO has claimed.

The NGO had earlier sent an email to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who in turn asked Dr Harshdeep Kamble, principal secretary in the industries department, and Aseem Gupta, principal secretary in the urban development department, to look into the matter. There are about 200 trees, including several fully grown palm trees and flower-bearing plants standing there.

It is always heartening when green preservation efforts include politicians and top-tier decision makers. For too long, environment has seen a push 'n' pull between NGOs, some activists, and politicians, at times builders with a political lobby.

We will benefit if everybody is on the same page, efforts focus on cooperation, rather than confrontation and an acceptable solution is found.

We want to see all local leaders who will certainly have some influence on the top rung, arrive at the spots, listen to the arguments, weigh the options and then suggest alternatives to preserve trees and green. Environmental issues cannot always be about taking on establishments or authorities. A spirit of togetherness, an acknowledgement that we all are one must prevail.