Meet Pune's men in green

PMC TREE AUTHORITY : Among the 30 members, 15 are 
corporators. The rest are meant to be experts. But who are they? Shweta Desai 
Pune, April 8: Meet Kaviraj Sangheliya. He is a Congressman and a member of the
Pune Municipal Corporation's Tree Authority Committee supposedly as an
"expert". Ask him about his credentials and he is blunt: ''I am a
social worker. I don't know how I became a member. Our leader Mohan Joshi got
me the membership." 

Sangheliya is one among 15 experts who are supposed to make up the 30-member
committee (the other 15 are corporators) whose primary job is to protect and
preserve the city's greens. But in reality, there is only one expert, Hasmukh
Shah- that too appointed by the High Court in 1999. The rest are all political
appointees - businessmen, party workers et al - who have absolutely nothing by
way of knowledge that could make them tree experts. 

     
        
This fact - not entirely surprising - came to light when Vanrai founder Mohan
Dharia and other environmentalists opposed a proposed Okayama study tour by
tree authority members on the grounds that none of them was an expert. 

The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, is
clear on the committee's composition. Chapter II, section 3 of the Act states,
"Every tree authority may co-opt representatives of non-official
organisations, who have special knowledge or practical experience in the field
of planting and preservation of trees as members of the Tree Authority, but the
number of such co-opted members should not exceed the number of members
appointed by the General Body." 

But in reality, the rule is being cleverly bent. As Tasneem Balasinorwala,
coordinator of Pune Tree Watch, alleges, the provisions of the Act are being
misused. "It's not as though the city doesn't have experts and
environmentalists. But, their opinion is hardly taken into consideration by the
tree authority committee.'' 

A corporator, himself a member of the tree authority, spills the beans on how it
works. ''Once an appointment is recommended and seconded by a corporator, it is
easy for anyone to become a member of the tree authority committee. One doesn't
have to be an environmentalist or tree expert.'' 

Under such circumstances, it becomes extremely difficult for the lone expert,
Shah, to operate or even be heard. ''Workers of political parties have a
stronghold on the committee and it's their opinion that matters. Hence, it
becomes difficult for me to take a stand,'' he said. 

FRIENDS OF TREES DID YOU SAY?
1. Aslam Abdul Rajjak Bagvan (Cong): ''I have been co-opted as I am worker of
Congress party.'' 

2. Ranjan Patil (Cong): ''I am not a part of any non-official organisation. I
have been directly co-opted.'' 

3. Robert Edward (president, Pune Dist Cong): "I belong to many NGOs and
have been actively involved with Ranjai for the past 10 years." 

4. Govind Tharkude (Cong): "I have been elected on a Congress seat. I
am...(after a lot of thought) also a member of Sandesh Parivar." 

5. Jitendra Gupta (Cong): "I am an industrialist by profession." 

6. Kaviraj Sangheliya (Cong): "I am a social worker. I don't know how I
became a member. Our leader Mohan Joshi got me the membership." 

7. Dadasaheb Bhelke (NCP): "I am not a part of any NGO." 

8. Ganpat More (NCP): "I am a social worker by profession. I am involved in
all types of social work." 

9. Nandkumar Mandora (BJP): "Why are you concerned about which organisation
I work for? I'll tell you later what exactly I work for." 

10. Yogesh Bachal (BJP): "I work for BJP." 

11. Prakash Gaekwad (Shiv Sena): "I have been director of an NGO,
Nisargraja, for the past 10 years." 

12. Kishore Rajput (Shiv Sena): "I don't work for any organisation. I work
for Shiv Sena." 

13. Raju Kadam (Cong): Could not be reached.

Read it on the Indian Express site at 
 http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=177270#.