PWD cuts six trees for Mapusa-Parra road widening, but environmentalists manage to save iconic tree
The majestic 40-year-old rain tree at the entrance of Mapusa was spared from the axe at the very last moment – nearly lost forever in the name of road widening and “development”.
MAPUSA
Development may be the buzzword, but in Goa, it often comes at the expense of the green canopy that defines its landscape.
The Mapusa-Parra road, once again, became the stage for a familiar confrontation between bulldozers of progress and the guardians of nature.
On Thursday, the Public Works Department (PWD) moved in quietly and felled at least five to six trees at the entrance of the Mapusa-Parra road as part of its plan to convert the stretch into a four-lane road.
But just when it seemed like the chainsaws would swallow some more “marked” trees, environmental activists rushed in – and saved a massive 40-year-old rain tree near the Carvalho petrol pump, its sprawling canopy arching protectively over the road.
“It’s not just a tree – it’s an identity of Mapusa. We reached just in time. Had we been late by a few hours, the rain tree would have been lost forever,” said environmentalist Claude Alvares.
The PWD had official sanction to cut 21 trees, but activists say many of them were wrongly marked.
“Some trees weren’t obstructing traffic or the road in any way, yet they were slotted to be hacked. In fact, we discovered that 27 trees were marked when permission existed only for 21,” revealed Avertino Miranda, convener of the Goa Green Brigade.
This wasn’t the first time the Mapusa-Parra road witnessed an ecological sacrifice.
A decade ago, around 50 coconut trees that lined the straight, scenic stretch were felled to widen the road.
Authorities then had promised to translocate them, but today not a single coconut tree remains.
“Widened roads have only become parking zones. Vehicles line up on one side, defeating the very purpose of expansion,” Miranda lamented, pointing to the irony of development that destroys greenery only to create more space for congestion.
This time, however, the activists managed a partial victory.
Apart from saving the rain tree, they convinced officials to spare several other trees, while some of those already cut will be translocated.
The PWD also assured that new saplings – around 60 in number – would be planted along the widened road.
More importantly, the department has agreed to comply with a National Green Tribunal order requiring a one-metre breathing space around the girth of surviving trees by removing tar that suffocates their roots.
The intervention has been hailed as a rare win in a State where infrastructure and environment are constantly at odds.
“We are not against road widening. But cutting trees unnecessarily is unacceptable. Development must come with responsibility and respect for nature,” Alvares stressed.
As Mapusa breathes a sigh of relief for its heritage rain tree, the incident highlights an uncomfortable truth: that Goa’s green cover is being chipped away bit by bit, and it sometimes takes sheer chance – and the last-minute arrival of activists – to prevent another silent felling.
