Kolkata needs to celebrate its green cover

As the city lost 30% of its greenery in a decade, leading to hotter summers and pollution, we speak to experts about what needs to be done to preserve what’s still left

Kolkata needs to nurture the one per cent green cover that remains: Experts

Know why a ride or walk through the Rabindra Sarovar area, Golf Green or Salt Lake always has a calming effect on you? It’s the greenery all around. In fact, several studies done across the world have shown that spending time amidst greenery can have significant health benefits.
But sadly, the India State of Forest Report 2021 revealed that Kolkata registered a 30% decline in forest-tree cover between 2011 and 2021.

“It is disheartening that green open spaces cover less than 1% of Kolkata now, thanks to so-called “development”. In fact, the loss of green cover is making summers unbearable in the city now,” says environmentalist Subhas Datta.

When asked how we can preserve the existing green spaces, Dutta says, “I feel that every little green space should be celebrated. Planting trees and preserving greens is the only answer to global warming.”

The KMC and KMDA should work together to preserve the existing green cover. They should carry out environment audit and tree census to keep a check on the degradation–

SM Ghosh, environmentalist and green technologist

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Nature the only to cure for the stress of modern life’

According to environmentalists, the decreasing green cover is also aggravating air pollution. “Earlier, almost every house had a courtyard with trees, but now, most of them have made way for multi-storied buildings. Naturally, the greenery is decreasing,” says Pradeep Vyas, former chief wildlife warden, West Bengal, & former director, Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, adding, “Greenery is essential, as nature is the only cure to the stress of modern life.”

Need for documentation of green zones

According to environmentalists, it’s important to document the green zones of Kolkata. “This will help counter the problem of encroachment and make it difficult for developers to clear a piece of land without permission,” says environmentalist Ajay Mittal, adding, “Even trees need open spaces around to breathe and grow. In the presence of concrete, trees don’t find the right ecosystem to grow.”

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The city needs more buildings to house the growing population, but it must be compensated with equal green cover. The cement patches around the trees near Shakespeare Sarani should be replaced with mud patches. We should also encourage vertical, balcony and terrace gardens –

Yogini Bapat, teacher & environment enthusiast

Illegal felling of trees should be strictly monitored. Every locality must have a green club to plant & maintain trees and look after the existing ones –

Subhas Datta, environmentalist

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Endangered green stretches

Many city areas are fast losing green cover. Some of these are

Existing green zones in Kolkata
A major part of the existing green cover in the city is restricted to these areas:

We need to have ward-wise accounting of trees, and a government order banning tree felling across the city except in the rarest of rare situations.

Preservation

of water bodies is another important area –

Dhruba Das Gupta, wetland researcher