Environmentalists blocked the felling of two giant trees in the city on Monday night and extracted a promise from Public Works Minister Mons Joseph next morning to shelve the felling until the whole matter is subjected to a debate.Quite a large number of towering rain trees, some of them at least a century-old, were cut down in the city in the recent months for road development. Poet Sugathakumari, who led a protest delegation to the Minister on Tuesday, asked him whether such devastation was indeed necessary.Green architect G. Shankar and several other environmentalists in the city were with her when she met Mr. Joseph at the venue of a PWD workshop where all top officials of his department were assembled.Mr. Joseph explained the need for development, the need for wider roads. When pressed for answer to the question whether there should not be a debate on how the development should be, he said he would call a meeting immediately for that purpose.
The Hindu, 29th April 2009
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