The book fair grounds, where book-lovers trampled on saplings planted by the army. A Telegraph picture

Two thousand saplings were planted by the Indian army in the book fair grounds last year. Book-lovers walked over all of them, save two.

However, the Eastern Command has not lost heart, and this year, it has once again embarked upon a drive to turn the rest of the Maidan — except the book fair grounds, that will be the state government’s headache — greener and more colourful. The army’s plans come at a time when the various state government agencies have drawn flak for rampant felling of trees for development, threatening the ecology in central and south Calcutta and Salt Lake.

This year, 4,000 saplings are being planted in the Maidan by the Eastern Command itself, and another 3,000 will be planted in and around its cantonments at Ballygunge Circular Road, Barrackpore and Kanchrapara. “We want to turn the Maidan into a green verge and add colour to it, so that Calcutta looks greener and cleaner,” said Lt-Gen J. S. Varma, general officer commanding in chief, Eastern Command.

Most of these saplings will be of flowering plants, such as bougainvillea, gulmohar and cassia. The drive has been taken up jointly by the Indian army and East Bengal Club.

This year, the army planned to plant saplings in the book fair grounds, but since the state government did not guarantee protection, only the stretch from Eden Gardens to Kidderpore was chosen as the plantation site. “We were extremely upset when we saw all our hard work go waste after the book fair was over. A book fair is fine, but not at the cost of trees,” an officer said.

The army has set up special patrols to ensure that the saplings grow to flowering trees. Anybody found stealing or destroying the saplings will be prosecuted by the police, officials said.

The Eastern Command plans to plant 2.5 lakh saplings in the next five years. “The army has always been environment-conscious, but it is now that we are seeing the results, as ecological parks have been set up at all Eastern Command cantonments,” a senior officer said.