Trees along both sides of Kolkata's Red Road have been wrapped from top to bottom in LED chains this year, with most of them lit up as far as the approach to the Second Hooghly (Vidyasagar) Bridge, Ei Samay reports. Environmentalists fear that the way the lights are wound around the branches will force birds to abandon their nests.
According to the report, a study by a team of Delhi University experts found that such lighting does great harm to nocturnal animals and birds. Birds and other night creatures prefer dark, quiet surroundings; without them, everything from their life cycle to breeding is affected, and in cities, with few trees, birds cannot easily move elsewhere. The lights also give off heat as well as glare at night.
In 2024 a case on the issue was filed in the Bombay High Court, which ordered that no lights be put on any tree and that no billboards or flex banners be fixed to trees without the authorities' permission.
Naba Dutta, general secretary of the green group Sabuj Mancha, called the lighting shocking, since trees are birds' homes, and said they would complain to the proper authorities. Environmental activist Subhas Dutta called it a crime and said he would complain to the environment department. Activists say lighting should be avoided at places such as Red Road and the Maidan, where many birds live. The report is by Ei Samay's Suprakash Mondal and Debarghya Bhattacharya.
Photo: Biswarup Ganguly / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0); Red Road, Kolkata
Source: Ei Samay
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