It is the same story whether being played out in Sao Paulo or Bangalore. Massive felling of trees make way for wider roads that can carry more cars which can cruise at greater speeds. A few people protest but for a majority it is just another ‘development’ work. Is it?
The environmental community in Sao Paulo is protesting over a project to improve traffic that is taking over thousands of trees at the margins of the Tiete river (see pic).
Dersa, company responsible for the works, states that the environmental compensation will cover the trees taken down and that the project is complementary with the other. By introducing three more lines of cars for 23 kms, 25 percent of traffic jams will be reduced and hence, save 1.5 milion litres of petrol a year, says the government. Even if it means 1500 ancient trees have to go.
In Bangalore too, every day sees tree hackers at work on some road that needs widening. Now it is the Adugodi-Madivala stretch where huge trees are being reduced to logs.
The environmental community in Sao Paulo is protesting over a project to improve traffic that is taking over thousands of trees at the margins of the Tiete river (see pic).
Dersa, company responsible for the works, states that the environmental compensation will cover the trees taken down and that the project is complementary with the other. By introducing three more lines of cars for 23 kms, 25 percent of traffic jams will be reduced and hence, save 1.5 milion litres of petrol a year, says the government. Even if it means 1500 ancient trees have to go.
In Bangalore too, every day sees tree hackers at work on some road that needs widening. Now it is the Adugodi-Madivala stretch where huge trees are being reduced to logs.
Sure, choked streets require respite but does the solution lie in making room for more traffic? Or looking at ways in which to reduce the number of vehicles on the road – like cities of Curitiba and Bogota have shown.
Can compensation by way of planting new saplings really compensate? And how well are these saplings nourished and sustained into adult plants? Very seldom. Does anyone think about the oxygen we lose with the loss of trees?
In Curitiba, Brazil, and Bogota, Colombia, much relief was possible by encouraging public transit. But this means that governments need to be immune to car lobbies. Can they?
Look at the advantages of bus rapid transit (which is a ‘metro’ of sorts for the bus.) BRT reduces smog and traffic. Bogotá’s TransMilenio has made life easy in the city and more livable: A 40-percent drop in air pollutants was reported in the first year of the system’s use, and average travel times were 32 percent shorter.
The system also reduces greenhouse gases by introducing fewer, cleaner buses and coaxing people from their cars. By removing 7,000 small private buses, TransMilenio has allowed Bogotٔá to reduce its emissions by more than 59 percent since the system’s opening in 2001.
Global emissions linked to transportation are set to double by 2030. Eighty percent of this growth will come from the developing world, where major cities are already struggling to provide mobility to their exploding populations. China with more than 30 projects on way shows it has recognized this fact. In India, the government is struggling with a couple of pilot projects.
Political will has to play a stronger role.
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1 comment:
When you clear trees, it changes the hydrologic cycle. Trees act as sponges on the land surface. They absorb water. Without the trees, there is no buffer to stop the water from runoff. That causes soil erosion, which then chokes the rivers and streams. With no trees, you lose water retention in the soil or aquifers so the ground dries up and then there is less transpiration, so therefore less rainfall as well.
Any doubts why we are missing the rains in 'tree-less' Bangalore??
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