A good number of us dream to live as long as Methuselah did. Trees live that dream, some even outliving that poster boy for longevity, if they are allowed to. Last week, two trees on PV Cherian Crescent Road in Egmore were denied that “permission”. Count it among existential oddities that trees have to be permitted by an artificial human-made world to realise the potential for longevity received unconditionally from Nature.
At PV Cherian Crescent Road, which derives its quietude in no small measure from the trees lining it, the axe struck twice last week, the first time on December 7, reducing one massive tree to a stump. According to a resident who wants to stay anonymous, when the workers were questioned about it, pat came the reply that the Corporation had ordered the hand that wielded the axe. With that explanation, residents who were disturbed by the cutting of the tree assumed there should be a justification for the act and let the matter rest. On December 12, the axe struck again, the Avenue’s arboreal wealth down by one more tree.
The stump of the other tree that was felled. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Two beautiful big trees with their canopy spreading from one side of the road to the other, were mercilessly felled. We now fear the other trees around here for years providing shade, will be soon gone too,” says M. Deepika, a resident of PV Cherian Crescent Road.
