[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ave you noticed the marked decrease in the amount of rainfall and the subsequent increase in the ambient atmospheric temperature around you lately? One simple fact has led to this rather inconvenient condition- rampant deforestation and destruction of trees, mostly attributable to the lucrative timber industry and indiscriminate burning of jungles by the stubborn lot. It is sad or rather horrifying to see endless pile of trees, big and small, old and young, felled mercilessly and put on display in our timber mills. Some of these must be at least a couple of centuries old, previously standing with a great deal of foliage and vegetation on them, breathing in (absorbing) huge quantity of Carbondioxide and giving us Oxygen in return for free. And by the look of things, it seems like we are bent on cutting off this Oxygen supply permanently. Sigh!
Trees are indeed God’s best gift to us, our main source of oxygen besides giving us a great area of shade! But sadly, over the years we have taken this wonderful creation for granted. The rate at which they are destroyed and discarded from our towns and villages is alarming.Trees are the lungs of our planet, and if we go on destroying them, we’ll be left choking one fine day, and at this rate, we are nowhere far from perdition. The only hope of reversing the situation will be to minimize these eco-unfriendly activities immediately if we are to breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water and live longer.
Think about this, one matured tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs/year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings. Isn’t that amazing enough to protect them? Moreover, it is proven that a healthy tree stores about 13 pounds of carbon annually or 2.6 tons per acre each year. An acre of trees absorbs enough Carbondioxide over one year to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles! I wonder what in the world can beat that.
At the outset, my attention is drawn to the century old trees that once silently stood as landmarks along our highways, street corners and neighbourhood; most of them have vanished. To add woe to the already diminishing fate of the standing few, they will become the first victims of any infrastructural development and with no system backing up them up, their survival seem to become irrelevant. Back in June, 2012 many of us saw a gigantic Peepal tree fall to its death and lying by the National Highway. It once stood as the biggest natural landmark in Naharbari, Dimapur. But as a result of utter negligence and uncontrolled dumping of non-bio degradable wastes around it, this majestic tree ultimately gave way to rough wind and fell after being uprooted. It was so big it took the concerted effort of the department of Forests, Purana Bazaar Ad-hoc Town Council and the Border Roads Organisation assisted by the traffic police and the district administration to remove the fallen mammoth. A bit of pruning, trimming and care would have saved this tree for another century or so to give the residents of Dimapur a cleaner air. Imagine how much Carbon it must have absorbed over the decades, standing majestically by the busy dusty highway. And it will take at least a century to have another tree of that size and calibre in that particular place, which most of us won’t be around to see it!
These trees are at our mercy and civic intervention seems to be the only way in saving and replenishing them. Instead of cutting and clearing them, smart living practices like building our houses and offices around them, building roads avoiding them wherever possible, etc. And the other important measure is planting more trees. Our God given land is so fertile; all types of trees can grow, both indigenous and exotic. Even bamboo makes an excellent option. Along with planting new ones, proper care and management of the older trees is of the essence. Usually, when trees gets too big or bulky and seem pose some threat to its surrounding, all they need is some trimming to make them lighter, and need not be cut down as a whole to serve the purpose. Or, wherever necessary some of these big trees need to be given an artificial support mechanism. The bottom line is, we need them for our survival, as much as they need our intervention for their survival.
And most of the big trees in our towns are facing the risk of being destroyed any given day as there is yet to be any regulation to protect them. Regular deforestation is been carried out on a large scale in our hills and mountains, highly attributable to the lucrative timber business. Hundreds of tonnes of timber leave our State on a daily basis through carriers and train wagons, a dozen times more than our domestic requirement. For a moment I am somehow reminded of that scene from the award winning sci-fi movie ‘Avatar’ where human beings went on to the extent of destroying the ‘biggest’ tree in a different planet which was considered sacred by the inhabitants there, in search of wealth!
Unless we start protecting them and planting more trees now, the monsoon pattern which is visibly changing will not be in our favour. The bulk of our rural population, who survive on agriculture for sustenance and survival, will be the most severely affected. Yes, because trees and rain are directly related. Trees are the most effective evapo-transpirers. A single tree breathes out almost 400 gallons of water per day through its leaves, thus making them quintessential in our planet’s water cycle. Moreover, they humidify the air which causes it to form clouds above the forests resulting in rain. Trees on the other end require rain water to manufacture their food. Rain is absorbed by the tree roots and released back to the air through transpiration. This is a relationship which requires our utmost respect and attention. Sadly, all along we have been disturbing this through our extensive logging, burning of jungles and other activities.
Before the situation becomes irreversible, we need to act now. A legislation to protect the forested mountains and hills surrounding our towns need to be put in place. The existing trees lining our highways need our protection as well. In the event of widening these highways, a bold arrangement needs to be arrived at, where the trees can be spared and be made to exist as road dividers, wherever possible. This will also give a totally new outlook to our future highways.
The wheels of global warming are already set in motion, and soon enough we will find ourselves as stakeholders in this universal crime for generations to come unless we do something about it. Think on this:
1. It did not rain on Good Friday this year in most parts of the State.
2. Our river basins are drying up, and it is supposed to be already monsoon.
3. Timber mills are growing both in number and size, throughout the State.
4. The climate is becoming unbearably hot even in hilly areas.
Dr. Tolto Metha
Dimapur, Nagaland
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