Members of the Jessore Road Gachh Bachao (Save the Trees) Committee have taken to the streets to protest against the felling of century-old trees on both sides of Jessore Road, which is to be widened from Barasat to the Bangaon-Petrapole land port in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. They demand that every tree along the historic road be declared a heritage tree.

In 2018 the Calcutta High Court ordered the felling of 356 century-old trees to widen Jessore Road and build overbridges at five railway level crossings. Committee members challenged the order in India's Supreme Court, which on 8 February upheld the High Court ruling and ordered the trees to be cut, subject to certain conditions.

Under the Supreme Court ruling, five trees must be planted for every one felled. Some of the trees have already been lost to natural disasters, and 306 of the 356 now remain.

Committee members are now on the streets demanding that these century-old trees be saved, and they have submitted a deputation to the North 24 Parganas district magistrate.

The committee's procession began at Barasat station, passed along K K Mitra Road, Chapadali crossing and Telephone Exchange crossing, and staged a demonstration in front of the district magistrate's office, where the tree lovers handed in their deputation.

Anirban Das of the committee said: "We have been fighting for a long time. We have said many times that branches that could break and fall onto Jessore Road should be cut, or trees that have died should be felled, and that the government should take steps to save those trees that can be saved."

He added that the committee had put forward an alternative route to development without cutting the trees or widening the road.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.