Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Every single leaf

One new neighbour has just cut down a peltophorum because it ruins the view of her shiny new house with the weird landscaping and All! Glass! exterior. Another tree nearby has had branches cut off to make way for a pole that will have their personal transformer perched on it.

At other times we have heard other neighbours complain that:

1) The trees shed too many leaves and their servants (yes) complain about having to keep sweeping.

2) The trees cut off all the sun. Apparently this is a bad thing.

3) There's no place to park because of trees on the pavement.

I'm actually surprised that they don't cut down trees during Diwali, because, you know, rockets.

Meanwhile, spring continues. The Tabibuia have flamed their yellow and are shedding. The figs have come and gone. The pungamaram's tender green is everywhere. The badam has finished with the red and has settled into summer's bright green. The rain trees still drop long seed pods that always, always, embed themselves into the softening tar on the road which, given the state of it, is an improvement.

Soon, even the leaves that so annoy our neighbours will cease to fall, though every cut branch and trunk will continue to put out shoots.

Clearly this last is something our neighbours will not stand for. Hence this:



Completely besides the point that this tree was outside a GHMC park and it wasn't for any of the people around here to burn it down.

I don't want to move. I'm wondering how I can persuade my neighbours that the desert - any desert - is the best place for them. 



8 comments:

Sharada said...

This is distressing! Remember the rain-trees I tweeted about? Well, so far only the branches were lopped off. Yesterday I discovered three giant trees, perhaps 30 years old or more, were sliced down and uprooted.

I decided to go take up the matter with our colony president today and get proper reasons.

It turns out, you can get the Forest Dept and GHMC involved in your case if your neighbours have been illegally cutting trees planted by the government. Especially without a strong, valid reason and necessary permits from both bodies.

I believe in the case around my colony, tree roots had entered several pipelines and cut off water supply. Yet of course, laying new pipelines or chopping specific branches touching electricity wires would make sense. Not bringing three majestic trees crashing down.

Speaking of ensuring that a tree doesn't continue to put out leaves , a neighbour in our colony poured kerosene over the stump and set fire to it some 15 yrs ago. She was encouraging the same fate for our Gulmohur. We still guard our tree zealously.

Space Bar said...

Aaargh! Yes, I remember those tweets and wondered what happened to those trees. Now I know.

I know about telling the GHMC etc;, but the thing is what can they do once the trees have been cut?

Out neighbours know we'll probably chipko the rain trees; they've been known to do their cutting at night, when we're out of the way.

Sharada said...

I am guessing, the GHMC, FD will plant new trees and fine the neighbours.

km said...

The Tabibuia have flamed their yellow and are shedding. The figs have come and gone....

MOAR! I can read paragraphs like these all day. There's something immensely moving and magical about Indian flora in March.

Space Bar said...

km: ALL THE FLOWERS! I feel March is putting on a special show for me.

dipali said...

So horrible. Utterly heartless:(

dipali said...

The blooming Tabebuias are so extravagantly beautiful!

Space Bar said...

Dipali! Yes, they were but now they're done. Spring is over before it even began.