As one walks down Campal at various points, the sight of trees pruned stand in stark contrast to its surroundings. The Peltophorum Pterocarpum, which is native to India and South East Asia, is found in large numbers in the city of Panjim. The trees that provide cover to the roads of Panjim have been pruned drastically and many of the trees now stand out like characters in a scary movie. This exercise has been carried out after several years.
However, one of the primary forces behind the entire operation, former CCP councillor Patricia Pinto, was relentless in ensuring the work was done. She said, “It needs to be cut earlier and not right before the rains. The job the CCP did was top notch this time. We had approached them in November but they were bogged down with other work and they promised to come in January and they did. They had the right equipment and the men were in place. The only thing missing were the traffic police, who should have been there. It was left to local residents to wake up at 6 o clock in the morning and cordon off the area so that the work could be completed uninterrupted. Earlier when it was done, all the necessary organs of the state machinery came together and completed the job. I am not complaining.”
The pressure on the CCP to get work done every day is tremendous, with phone calls coming in from councillors demanding that work be done in their respective areas. Patricia said she wanted the workers to be available for fifteen days at a stretch but that was virtually impossible given the amount of work that needs to be done all over the city. She said, “The trees look bald, stripped of all their beauty and people will think as to who would do something like this but it has been done properly. These trees grow back pretty fast and by the time the monsoons commence, they’ll be back to their full glory.”
The danger, she added, was that if they weren’t trimmed, then they would continue to grow and get top heavy, which would be very dangerous, given the strong winds that are common in the monsoons. Earlier, she said, some trees would be trimmed in a manner that would ensure no balance.
Another resident in the area, Armando Gonsalves, said he was very happy with the work that had been done. He said, “It was necessary that it was done. The trees had become top heavy and could fallen due to the winds. Yes, from the green perspective it is bad but the greenery will be back soon and of that there is no doubt.”
However not everyone was pleased with the effort
A former councillor from another ward who did not want to come on record said they did not agree with what was done and the manner in which it was done. They said they were aware of the “technical expertise” available in the CCP and felt this was done under the guidance of someone who perhaps was not aware of how it needed to be done.
Perhaps it would make better sense to wait and hope for the best. Panjim, like the rest of Goa, needs some good news.
