An old peepal tree, which stood near the distillery pond in Ranchi for decades, was felled last week as it came in the way of a bridge project connecting Lalpur with Kokar, making a mockery of the existing Jharkhand High Court order to transplant trees and not cut them.
The peepal tree could have been saved had the state government engaged the services of a tree transplanter.
Asked, the state forest department said last August, acting on a high court observation that "felling trees was a sin", had floated an expression of interest (EoI) for an agency that offered the services of a tree transplanter, as well as a team of specialists such as silviculturist (tree doctor) and tree biologist.
But, no bidder responded to the EoI.
Six months down the line, the forest department has again gone back to thought mode, unsure how to implement tree transplantation.
Additional principal chief conservator of forests (planning and development) Y.K.S. Chouhan conceded they had failed to get any bidder. "No one came forward in response to the EoI in August. Under department norms, we were looking for a specialised agency having experience in such project and with a qualified team. No one responded," the official said.
What next? "The forest department may go for buying a tree transplanter device now," he said.
Chouhan's boss R.R. Hembrom, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), who also happens to be the head of the forest department, however said nothing had been decided on the procurement. "I had authorised our planning and development wing to look into this job but haven't got feedback yet. I will soon look into the matter," he said.
Retired forest officer Narendra Mishra, who had been on a six-member committee earlier set up by the high court in the wake of a PIL accusing the state government of cutting trees unnecessarily in the name of development, said he was sad about the present scenario.
"It speaks volumes of priorities of the department, whose sole purpose, at least on paper, is safeguarding nature and animal life," he said.
