Nature lover turns saviour for city’s endangered trees

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 16

First, due to the green revolution and now, because of the mindless chopping of trees in the name of development works, Punjab is losing the wealth of rich biodiversity and traditional trees.

Many of them are on the verge of extinction in the region. Further, due to lack of vision on the part of the government and its departments concerned, these trees are endangered species now. Ironically, the government has also miserably failed to compensate the loss of green cover.

Noted environmentalist PS Bhatti has now taken upon himself to conserve these shrubs and trees. With painstaking efforts, he is preparing a list of these trees after visiting far-flung areas and tries to collect their seeds or cuttings for plantation. He runs an NGO, Khudai Khidmatgaran, which has planted thousands of tress in various parts of the city in the past several years.

He said Punjab was a very rich state in timber and woods for the use of agricultural implements and poor man’s huts and houses. However, after the green revolution, with improved seeds and mechanisation of cultivation of land, every inch of land in Punjab had been brought under the plough and the first casualty were weeds, shrubs, plants and trees.

Recently, he found a Karir (Caparis Aphylla ) tree, which he claimed was very rare in the entire Doaba and Majha areas at present. He planted it in a village called Sugga, near Bhikhiwind. The tree is now in the flowering stage and would be multiplied after getting its seeds. In local language, is called ‘Della’ and is highly useful in curing liver diseases. Among other trees which are on verge of extinction, include Karaunda (Carissa congesta), Galgal (Citrus pseudolimon), Khatti Amb (Mangifera indica), Beri ( Zizyphus and Kachnar ( Bauhinia purpurea).

“This Kachnar is different from Bauhinia varegata which is very common. The Bauhinia purpurea is a different one which is source of medicines and there are only 50 to 60 recorded trees of it in Punjab,” he said adding that now, he was multiplying these trees by using scientific methods.

He said his organisation had also planted Keekar, Sheesham, Bohar, Pharwan, Sohanjna (Drum stick), Jand, Peelu, Amla (Phyllanthus emblica), Aroo and Reetha trees in Amritsar and these trees were now yielding abundantly.

He pointed out that there was no department which was working to conserve these trees. He said the Punjab Government should create a department for the same so that the rich biodiversity of this land could be revived and saved.