Central Empowered Committee directs RVNL to ensure afforestation for Kolkata's Joka-Esplanade metro project
Times of India | 3 April 2025
KOLKATA: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has asked Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), which is implementing the Joka-Esplanade Metro line, to ensure suitable afforestation of areas in the Maidan from where trees are felled or transplanted to carry out the metro work.
RVNL stated it planted 476 trees near Fort William and in Goat Bazaar, a patch of land next to the Vidyasagar Setu exit ramp. A further 351 trees are proposed to be planted at the Goat Bazaar and HRBC land in the Maidan. RVNL also claimed it transplanted 95 trees so far.
The CEC stated in the order that no tree felling or transplantation shall be undertaken without obtaining prior approval from the state forest department and the land-owning department, which for the Maidan is the Defence Ministry. It also stated that the forest department will have to approve the new location for transplantation.
Environment action group People United for Better Living in Calcutta (PUBLIC), whose PIL led to the matter being referred to the CEC, hoped the Defence Ministry would allocate suitable land in the Maidan for the transplantation and compensatory plantation. RVNL claimed the Defence Ministry earlier denied permission to do so.
"The effort should be to ensure the minimal loss of greenery at the Maidan and compensate for the loss there and not someplace else that is several kilometres away. There have been instances in the past, including during the widening of Camac Street, when full-grown trees were transplanted in Park Circus and left Camac Street devoid of greenery," pointed out Pradeep Kakkar of PUBLIC.
The West Bengal Trees Act, 2006, Section 8 specifically makes it obligatory for plantation to be done in the same plot of land on which the original trees were felled. Following the order, PUBLIC has written to the forest department, urging it to ensure the soil and climatic conditions, as well as the transplantation process, are conducive for the survival of the transplanted trees.
The CEC has called for maintenance and monitoring for five years to ensure an 80% survival rate. However, experts have expressed concern about the feasibility of transplanting full-grown mature trees and their ability to survive the shock of the crown and branches being axed for the transplant.
"From my experience, once the branches are hacked and only the trunk along with the root ball is transplanted, the survival rate is only 15-20%. To reach 80% survival, the entire tree has to be transplanted," pointed out Debi Goenka of Conservation Action Trust, an advocacy group on environment and biodiversity.