THE real battle to save the forests around Shimla town began after the Shimla Municipal Corporation transferred about 1,800 hectares of forest land to the forest department on April 18,2006 after 100 years of controlling it. “Obviously, the priorities of the Municipal Corporation are different — providing civic facilities. A meagre sum is kept for looking after the forest.Also, the Corporation cannot match the technical hands-on expertise of the forest department,” says Vineet Kumar, a 1985-batch Indian Forest Service officer and Conservator of Forests, Shimla region.
Following the transfer, Kumar has taken several initiatives to stall the rapid disappearance of the town’s green cover.Several schemes to tackle environmental and ecological degradation are being implemented rapidly. The first was the Green Shimla Yojna, aimed at saving the deodar. Employment generation and improving the scenic beauty of the hill station are the most attractive features of the scheme. Afforestation over about 200 hectares of forest land has already begun. Alongside, removal of diseased and dry trees in a phased manner is on with at least 10 saplings being plant ed against each tree removed. Deodar, ban, buran (rhododendron) and asculus saplings grown in polythene bags under artificial regeneration are being planted. A model nurs ery with modern technology has been an essential part of the regeneration drive.
The Smriti Van scheme
exhorts people to ‘Plant
a tree towards a memory
you wish to cherish and
help us to grow it’
The drains, originating from the highest point of the town, Jakhoo, and extend ing towards Summer Hill, will have technically solid embankments and soil binding trees and shrubs. “The water stored in the embankments and the catchment area of Ashwani Khad will not only provide irrigation during dry spells but also improve water supply in and around Shimla town,” says Kumar. To attract tourists, a British walking trail from the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies to Glen has been redone and named Burans Path in view of the abundance of buran in the area. Kumar also plans to create a catchment area near Summer Hill which will sup ply the same amount of potable water to the town as that from the only catch ment area currently, which dates from British times. The officer has also draft ed a Tree Preservation Act of Shimla. In the process of being approved by the government, it will put an end to illegal felling, dumping of debris in forests, and dessication of trees. It includes a provi sion for setting up a Tree Committee and Tree Authority to look into routine affairs and complaints. An offender will have to forgo the right of land use — a strong deterrent against tree felling
