Reforestation and afforestation: The need of the hour

Janghaolun Haokip *

Plantation in June 2010 :: Pix - Jinendra Maibam

I’m beginning to wonder how much longer should we be reading of the cut off of highways and routes; taken by gruesome landslides, peoples displaced beause of their houses and shelters half-submerged. People taken to die: by rivers, turbulent; with landslides, buried deep by nature.

Helpless and shattered as we’ve been, either we consider this a natural routine of fear and unrest or a fine lack of development, rests on our decent selves.

Environment and Ecology must be viewed as an important facet of development. These calamities, I believe, are obvious belies of development. In essence, steps must be taken to curb these man-made disasters, for the good of our own. Let’s look back to what steps have been taken since the floods and landslides situations last year?

Presumably or either visibly none. We’ve observed no sinking of lands and not much cracks much as this year happened last year. What more do we expect when most of our forests are but dry shrubs. Mount.Koubru, once glorious of its vegetation is but a standing clay structure. People who were on a pilgrimage must’ve seen it, it’s sad, but we’ve made it so.

Each year our rivers are craving for more territory with violence and velocity, taking lives and properties. On the contrary, it amazes me to an extent; to see flooded paddy fields like a big river, to ride through highways filled with water, and some places does feels like an aisle in the witnesses of waters.

It does serves an easy fishing ground for our mothers. Yet, do they smile when their markets are flooded to their knees?. At the same time it gets me scared to think if this momentum of climate change, influenced by our avaricious activities, keeps its pace.

A couple years from now, I bet our valley will look like a giant lake from the sky and our buildings be little islands and homes of the aqua-life.

What about us? It does gives us a new impetus with the initiative proposed by the goverment under Honorable CM N.Biren, to plant trees in the river banks.

I believe that we believe this would, hopefully, assuage the virulent overflowing of river banks. However, much as I appreciatiate the initiative being proposed, I’d like to further state of the impact the pompous hills has on the subject matter.

The hill ranges surroundinog the valley, as one could see from the highways, our hills looks painted dry. If one cares enough to walk closer, there are nothing but dry shrubs and the feeling of a felled vegetation. With the rest to curb climate change and change in seasonal patterns being a primary knowledge to all. With that, all of the steps to be taken is reforestration and afforestation of our every wasted lands.

This doesn’t need scientific evidence. How must this be taken must be given a cohesive thought. This must be in precedence over other developments as it’s pretty clear how it usurps other developments the goverment must’ve taken much pride on.

The goverment must enunciate effective and realistic steps to be taken while the general public must also be amenable to the proposed initiatives unless we are inept beings. The goverment could sub-divide each region and entrust a body for better regulation and as well to check the effectiveness of the programme.

While this can also serve as a temporary employment generation, moreover, this will also helps in consolidating responsiblity towards curbing undesirable change in seasonal patterns.

The execution of the proposed plans must also be regularly checked by a committee of the goverment to see it to the real change. These plans and initiatives cannot and must not be taken as just another goverment proposed plan anymore.

Nothing would ever defy nature and its wrath. I’ve seen it, just an hour of rain flooded the fields and another hour of rain flooded our city -two hours of rain caused us misery and if it continues, well, that will be agony.

To curb these challenges posed by environmental change must be of utmost concern; of the goverment and the people. As in it rests our land and our lives.

However, much of the proposed initiatives of the goverment just remains a proposed initiative without any initiatives really being initiated (relatable to last year’s situations and plans initiatiations). But with the new goverment under honoroble CM N.Biren, who I much respected personally, I believe these initiatives becomes realistic and be of good prestige.

So, let us all unite to save our land and to restore the beauty of our nature. For like Gautama Budha once said, “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path”.