Cyclone Vardah: Only hope for Chennai is by planting a tree
On December 12, 2016, the metropolis of Chennai lost more than 1,00,000 trees. Tropical cyclone Vardah cut a swath across the city. Work is now on to revive and restore the city’s lost green cover. Some estimates put it as about 20,000 tonnes of just wood debris.
The city’s green lungs, be they in public spaces, such as parks, zoos, protected forests,colleges, universities, and tourist attractions or private ones, such as gardens and rooftops, were decimated. Denuded trees as well as resilient coconut and palms remained standing while aged giants like gulmohars, raintrees and mango, neem, peepal and even banyan trees were flattened and used as weapons of mass destruction by the whistling wind.
Three weeks on, new leaves return to provide shade to the perplexed birds seeking shelter in bare branches. And the community has come together to re-plant the lost trees. While a lot of the narrative immediately following the cyclone was about choosing only native trees and shrubs to re-plant, it is slowly becoming more responsible.
Worryingly, many used this trauma to bring down more trees and block or belittle community tree-planting drives: evidence of both lack of long-term planning and a desperate quest for short-term gain.
Trees and plants are vital for the health and well-being of living things. Trees especially are at the forefront of the battle to curb climate change. They are the most natural carbon traps. They sustain life by providing oxygen, trapping air pollutants, providing shade and food and income.
The power in just a single leaf cannot be underestimated or taken for granted. As Dr Ranil Senanayika, a proponent and pioneer of analog forestry from Sri Lanka put it at the 5th Asia Pacific Adaptation Network Forum (APAN 2016), when we transition from a hydrocarbon driven economy to a carbohydrate driven one, a more equitable development will become the norm.
Air pollution and climate change worries are regular part of the urban dialogue. But the simple solution of planting more trees somehow seems to require debate. What was the niggardliness of neighbours over trees overshooting boundaries and causing nuisance with debris and roots disrupting constructions is being mainstreamed.
As the internet meme says, were trees to provide free wifi, we’d never cut one down (most apt in the post-Cyclone Vardah scenario where fibre cuts have disabled a lot of the internet providers), but sadly they only produce air for us to breathe, so we freely debate bringing more of them down or prevent planting more trees.
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| Air pollution and climate change worries are regular part of the urban dialogue. But the simple solution of planting more trees somehow seems to require debate. |
Weather conditions and geography in Chennai are not as bad as in Delhi and smog has not yet brought life to a standstill here. The daily onset of land and sea breeze cleans our city of the haze, so that haze, fog and mist are but tags on the Google weather tab.
When authorities are unable to check the addition to petrol and diesel vehicles onto the roads of the state capital; or even crack down on those burning garbage stacks (nobody seems to be learning from other cities’ mistakes, this continues outside Delhi despite the National Green Tribunal banning open waste burning) - large or small, composed of plant debris or carcinogenic plastic, rubber and metals - then they definitely shouldn’t hesitate about increasing the city’s green cover.
Plants and trees in public spaces are a must as they produce a lot of oxygen, trap carbon and capture heavy metal and sooty pollutants while providing shade and a shield to our lungs. It will add to food security and can be used to generate income for the jobless if they are fruit-bearing trees or whose parts can be processed to generate income.
Sustainable agro-forestry does not have to be restricted to forests and hills. It can be successfully practised in cities and generate income for the city or the vulnerable and poverty stricken slum and street dwellers.
This could protect the trees and the people. A win-win solution to the problem of reviving the city’s lost green cover. Thus ensuring that the community becomes an active stakeholder in guaranteeing the health and survival of green cover.