For the sake of Durand Cup, branches of a tree rudely sliced off at Khyndai Lad

SHILLONG, July 30: The city still has some lonely souls that care for its environment and plant trees to offset the carbon footprints in places like Khyndai Lad which is chock-a-block with vehicles crouching bumper to bumper and where humans can barely move. But a few days ago a particular tree that was planted in front of OB Shopping Mall was sliced to make way for some hoarding of the Durand Cup football tournament scheduled to kickoff from August 3.
Naturally, the heartless slicing down of this tree has offended especially those who with good intentions planted this tree and nurtured it over months and also others who are deeply concerned about the propensity of Shillongites to cut down trees mercilessly.
The Shillong Times spoke to sources in the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) on whether permission was taken to slice off branches of this tree. SMB sources said that they were aware about this issue of the cutting of the branches of the tree near OB Shopping Mall but they didn’t follow up on this matter since there was no official complaint.
It was also informed that the branches were sliced off since a pandal was erected just atop the tree at the SMB parking lot for an event for the grand tour of the three trophies in the city on July 22, namely the Durand Cup Trophy and the Shimla Trophy (both rolling trophies) and the President’s Cup (for permanent keeping).
The tour culminated in a celebration at Khyndai Lad, featuring musical performances by a local band and the Army’s Jazz band.
Sources said that the Sports and Youth Affairs Department had hired a private party to set up the pandal and other arrangement for the programme at Khyndai Lad. That private party never considered it duty bound to seek permission before cutting off the leaves of that tree.
This outrageous act of erecting the pandal just above the tree has angered a section of environmentalists who feel that the government authorities have shown complete disdain for the efforts of citizens to try and keep the city green.
“I don’t understand why people here are so fond of cutting down trees the moment they start the foundation work for constructing homes and now they don’t even care about cutting down trees without permission from the authorities,” said A. Pathaw, a young environmentalist who says she has been planting seeds and saplings wherever she finds the space to do so.
Others wonder at the audacity of the private party in not seeking permission from the SMB to mercilessly pull down the branches of the tree.
“What’s the point in having these authorities that are supposed to guard the environment when they allow anyone to do whatever they like?” questioned Kmenlang Dhar, a college student, who says he is part of an environment group, adding that the chief minister keeps talking of planting so many million trees while certain arms of his government keep cutting down trees across the state for charcoal and firewood and here in the heart of the city, to accommodate a screen.