He has fought and won a legal case and succeeded in changing public indifference. But he did not lose his heart or interest. He continues to strive for making lanes of North Kolkata green.
Not many will realise when they walk through the lush green shade in the
decrepit lanes of North Kolkata that it was all the efforts of one man, who answers to the call Amit Nath Hazra. He has never made any effort to hog the limelight.
For the last 35 years, Hazra has planted and nurtured thousands of trees that now form a green canopy over large parts of Kolkata’s concrete jungle, especially in the arterial Vivekananda Road in North Kolkata.
Hazra, a grade IV employee in a private firm, invests a major portion of his
Rs 6,000 salary in Kolkata’s future. He embarked on his mission with his father in 1977 when he was just 14 years old.
“I buy year-old saplings and plant and nurture them. I have my share of well-wishers. But my detractors outnumber them,” Hazra, who is now on the threshold of 50, told Deccan Herald.
“Many people never understood what I was doing? I was purchasing saplings,
digging pits along roads and planting them. For some unfathomable reason people didn’t like me doing it. They used to call me insane and threw stones at me. Younger people used to make fun of me, uproot and damage saplings,” Hazra said.
“Even under the cover of darkness they used to destroy the fencings and uproot the saplings. People have even cut down trees that I once planted. Such incidents are painful. These trees are like my children. However, I never lost my hope,” said Hazra, who for the last three decades has been untiringly trying to make the people realise that trees are the best friends of man.
“After nearly 35 years of continuous struggle, people have come to realise and now I don’t face the stiff resistance. Some young people come and actively support my work,” Hazra said.
Besides non-cooperation and hostile attitude of locals, this green crusader had to fight the legal battle with a business magnet and the state government to save his trees. His greatest battle till date has been against a confectionery whose emissions used to stifle the saplings he planted on the road beside it.
“I wrote to everyone and ultimately took the battle to the Supreme Court praying that the owner of the confectionery be asked to install a chimney. Finally, the court asked the state government to act and today with the chimney installed the saplings I planted have grown into healthy trees,” Hazra claimed.
“During the construction of Metro Railways lots of trees were chopped off and I started writing to everybody--from local councillor to the chief minister. At that time the chief minister of the state was Jyoti Basu and he personally intervened. The route was slightly deviated and many of my trees were saved,” Hazra added.
Whenever this “Green Warrior” faces opposition, he shoots off letters to civic authorities, the police, the forest department, federal agencies and even organisations like Greenpeace.
“Pressure from these quarters, in many cases, has quietened many an opponent,” he said. When asked from where he imbibed this love for trees, Hazra answered with a grin: “Actually my father was a nature freak and he used to plant trees by the side of the lanes.
From my childhood, I was never good at studies and used to bunk classes to go wandering in parks and gardens. Nothing gives me greater joy than walking in the wild and hearing chirping of birds. Slowly, this passion for conserving flora and fauna grew and now I cannot live without them. My father didn’t leave much money.
But I used a major portion of what he left to buy saplings, fertilisers and fencing material,” Hazra, who never received any monetary help and has declined awards preferring to remain anonymous, said. It is not only about planting trees but for the last 35 years Hazra has been constantly preaching to develop a social consciousness and make the environs green and pollution free.
Hazra has coined attractive slogans on environment preservation in Hindi, Bengali and English like “Thus spoke immortal Vedas-- Kill us not, Be kind to us; Please save us to save you from pollution,’ and that he paints on small steel plates and hangs on the protective fencing around the saplings.
“After sustained efforts some people in my neighbourhood have realised the importance of trees and have started planting saplings on their own. Those living in apartments have potted plants adorning their balconies. Such spaces were bare till a few years ago,” Hazra said with a hint of pride.
“A group of children has formed a nature club and carry out tree plantation drives. But there's a lot more that needs to be done,” he said.