An open letter to our MLA

Can we please look into this?

Dear Shekhar Sir,

Who will ask these questions? Is the entire Nagar Panchayat blind to the ruthless slaughter of trees and levelling of wetlands that is happening all around Chiplun? Can it not see what the common folk of this city have seen while growing up? I am 28 now. Having spent my entire childhood in this city, I know very well how lush it was. I know, and so does the Nagar Panchayat, that many parts of this city are and were year round wetlands. They were the water storages of the city. It was because of them, that the city could control and manage its floods. They stored the excess rainwater during the peak monsoon and dispersed it into the rivers and tributaries of Shiv river and Vashishti river when the rains stopped. Only in the past 20 years, the exploitation of these wetlands has taken shape.

Chiplun, a city of ponds and lakes, is soon turning into any other city- growing and expanding in all directions. Some people, especially the ones linked to the political circles, call this “development”. There are only a few ponds left- every other pond and wetland is now being encroached upon. Coming back from my 90 day walk around the Konkan Coastline, when I went for a walk around Chiplun, I felt the sudden rise of concretised structures, the chopping down of age old trees, filling up wetlands with stones and soil and opening it up for construction. All this levelling of land was possible because the Vashishti river was cleared up of excess sand and stones from its womb, which was then filled up in these wetlands. We have only safeguarded one ecosystem to kill another one.

I am hopeful because you are an educated person. You run educational institutes as a private enterprise. I would like to bring to your attention, that the handing out of such licenses to bulldoze the local flora and fauna, the local wetlands, is extremely dangerous to the health of a growing city like Chiplun. Many such illegal activities, which are being given a legal mark, given the blessings of local authorities and politicians, will kill the ecosystem of our beloved city. The illegal sand mining in the Vashishti basin, is an impending disaster. Such excess mining will be responsible for landslides in the surrounding mountains.

Each year MSEB does drives to cut grown up trees during the start of the monsoon. They mercilessly chop down hundreds of year old trees because it touches the electric cables. I beg to ask this question, how did we survive for so many years when we didn’t have these chopping machines? The electricity was restored and so was the tree. We cannot give answers like, “this is a preparation for monsoon”. We need to find other solutions, so that the trees and humans co-exist. The Markandi area was a lush green area in my childhood. It is now difficult to even step out of our house during the summer. And because everything outside of our house is government property, meaning the peoples’ property, we can only ask questions to you, our elected MLA.

Only yesterday, while coming back from the Sahyadris, I saw huge trees of Arjun in the Sati devraai were chopped down. It takes centuries for such vegetation to reach the levels that it has. More importantly, these trees are the last remaining pointers, that the river system is healthy. These were the last remaining trees in a river ecosystem which once used to house many such Arjun trees on its banks. Given the rarity of such trees and other wildlife, it is important to save up some areas in our city and consequently put restrictions on such areas. Such areas don’t need any governmental support/funding— they don’t need modifying or beautification. They simply need to be let alone, grow in their own capacity. All this, so that the next generations can see what Chiplun once was.

I played badminton with your son when I was young. He too was receptive when I had spoken to him about a tree plantation drive some six years past. Knowing this, I believe that steps can be taken to ensure that the lungs of the city can be saved. The wetlands can be preserved and no new construction be made in areas which are identified as wetlands.

I know that money has become the new God, but without nature, we will be a city of no character. Without clean air, clean water, clean environment, we humans can’t survive for long. For our endless growth, we cannot turn this city into a desert during the summer. It all comes with political will and I am hopeful that you will look into it.

Your’s sincerely,

Ashutosh Joshi