“If we grow trees, trees will grow us,” tweeted Chief Minister M. K. Stalin last June, launching a massive tree planting drive across the State. He was merely echoing the words of his father and late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi, who Mr.Stalin wrote, had a framed image of this slogan at their Gopalapuram home.
But on Thursday (February 29, 2023) night, that message was clearly lost on some DMK men in Krishnagiri, when an earthmover felled two full grown trees and a three-year old banyan tree on an open ground overlooking the Anna statue near the new bus stand, allegedly under the instructions of the DMK’s town secretary K.C. Nawab.
Among the felled trees by a rolling earthmover were an Indian Beech (Pungai) and a Rain Tree (Thoonga Moonji Maram), both said to be over 12 years old, apart from the banyan tree that would have grown to provide immense shade, said Nagaraj, a local taxi association president.
“An earthmover came by around 11.30 p.m. When the taxi drivers asked what was happening, Mr. Nawab said they were cleaning up the municipality grounds because a complex was going to come up here,” says Jalaluddin, a taxi driver.
“The trees used to give so much shade that people commuting to the bus stand would halt, sit by there and go, in this otherwise barren ground,” says Nagaraj. “The Indian Beech tree easily provided shade for over 25 people,” he added.
The Krishnagiri town taxi association had also erected stones as makeshift seats for people to stop by and sit under the shade.
As temperatures have begun to soar, and the ground overlooking the Anna statue is also the only venue in town for public meetings and protests, the felling of the trees has created consternation among several sections of the public.
The Hindu contacted the DMK town secretary K.C. Nawab, who is also the spouse of municipality chairperson Farida Nawab. Mr. Nawab denied that any tree had been felled. Asked if he was present when the incident took place, he said, “Our office was there and I was just standing.” However, Mr. Nawab’s denial contradicts eyewitness accounts, that said he led the felling of trees.
The Hindu tried contacting municipality chairperson Farida Nawab, but she did not respond.
