Unnecessary controversy over cutting trees for flyover: Himanta

GUWAHATI: Amidst the ongoing row over cutting century-old trees to give way for a flyover, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that a section of people have created "unnecessary controversy" to target the developmental works of the government.

The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday slapped notices on Assam government over its plans to cut around 25 century-old trees for construction of a four-lane 5.05 km long flyover, the longest in the city, from Dighalipukhuri tank to Noonmati at a cost of Rs 852.68 crore.

"For the last six months, I have been noticing that one particular circle is trying to create an unnecessary controversy regarding the flyover and trees of Dighalipukhuri," Sarma told reporters after visiting the construction site near the pond around midnight on Tuesday.

He said the second controversy was shifting the statue of doyen of Assam literature Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbaroa, and claimed that the flyover will pass above the statue and it will remain where it is now.

"I feel that these two controversies were created by a few people targetting the developmental works of the government. Those who created the unnecessary controversy that Dighalipukhuri trees would be chopped were not based on facts. We informed the Gauhati High Court accordingly," the CM alleged.

He further claimed that Sahitya Akademi awardee Assamese litterateur Dr Hiren Gohain has created an "unnecessary controversy" stating that the statue would be shifted.

"People like Hiren Gohain do not want good things to happen in Guwahati. Everything has a solution. The Assam government has a notification that if one tree is chopped, 10 have to be planted. I feel that some love trees and some want to put the government in an awkward position," Sarma said.

Gohain, a former Gauhati University Professor and noted social thinker, has been at loggerheads with Sarma and BJP for many years over the government's "communal and anti-people" policies.

According to an RTI reply, the Public Works Department, which is looked after by the chief minister, stated that the authorities have decided to go ahead with uprooting the trees surrounding the historic Dighalipukhuri without carrying out any environmental impact assessment and public hearing.

Prominent personalities, artistes, students and residents hit the streets last month and criticised the BJP-led government for planning to chop around 25 trees, some as old as 200 years, along the banks of the iconic pond for the project.

"The first thing is that the PWD from the beginning did not plan to cut it at all. Nowadays, the big trees are transplanted. I had given a public assurance that we won't cut the trees or replant. I asked the PWD how to correct it. Now, the flyover will descend at Dighalipukhuri from Noonmati and will have to climb at Lamb Road," Sarma said.

He said that a team from Haryana had come to study if the trees can be translocated with plans to relocate them on the Brahmaputra bank near the DC Bungalow in the city, giving the woods a new lease of life.

"A section of the people love trees. Another section wants that the flyover remains incomplete halfway and election happens in the meantime," Sarma claimed.

The flyover is scheduled to be operational by 2026, when the next assembly polls in the state are due.

The chief minister defended the government's decision to cut trees in other areas to construct flyovers and other developmental projects.

"We have to cut some trees while carrying out developmental works. If we don't want that, then we have to issue strict orders that no trees will be allowed to cut. Then people will not be able to construct their houses also. Every house in Guwahati has been built by cutting trees. You (media) cannot run after each and every tree," he added.

The CM said that in entire India, big highway projects are being implemented and if one tree is cut, 10 are planted, and that is the norm everywhere.

"One section of people will move everywhere to find out where trees have been cut. They don't want developmental works to take place," he claimed.

As per popular legend, the Dighalipukhuri was constructed by King Bhagadatta, who led the Kauravas in the Battle of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata, during the 'swayamvar' of his daughter Bhanumati.

Historically, the pond was used by the Ahoms as a naval dockyard, especially during the 1671 'Battle of Saraighat' on Brahmaputra.

Its access to Brahmaputra was eventually closed during colonial times. The connecting portion was further filled, on which the Circuit House was built and later the Gauhati High Court came up.

Besides, several other landmark structures like the state museum, district library, Rabindra Bhawan, Reserve Bank of India, a part of Cotton University (first college of Northeast), Handique Girls' College (first women's college of NE), Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Hall and district courts.