Belonia : A third-grade student’s question — “Ma’am, if all the trees are cut down, how will we breathe?” — has left Belonia’s JB School, formerly known as Model School, in shock after all trees on its premises were felled.
Adjacent to Yogmaya Kalibari, the school once had a green campus with agarwood, neem, nageshwar and mahogany trees. Allegations claim the felling was carried out on the initiative of School Managing Committee chairperson and councillor Deepa Pal, citing the trees as hazardous, with Forest Department personnel carrying out the work.
Officiating headmistress Mousumi Ghosh Pal said she had only requested removal of two dangerous trees and pruning of branches on others, not a complete felling. However, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate said the trees were cut after the Forest Department was consulted following a requisition letter from the councillor, adding that no new construction is planned and that the councillor had marked the trees for felling.
The incident comes even as a nationwide campaign, “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam,” urges citizens to plant trees in their mothers’ memory. Residents have questioned whether development is being pursued at the cost of the environment, with the young student’s query striking a chord across the locality.