CHENNAI: A group of students from IIT-Madras staged a demonstration against the college administration on Tuesday, for allegedly adopting ecologically destructive procedures to remove julie phospora trees. Although the students complied with the Madras high court’s order of removing the Julie phospora (seemai karuvelam), which sucks groundwater levels, they said the usage of earthmovers and bulldozers would affect the shrub habitat on the campus.
“A lot of small trees and shrubs will be crushed during the procedure. Also, the college administration should assure us to replant eco-friendly trees, rather than turning the spot into a concrete spot,” said P. Manoj, a research scholar.
A professor from the campus, on the other hand, said the trees whose roots are deep penetrated could be removed only using earthmovers. Pooja Kumar from the Coastal Resource Centre suggested that the earthmovers be used not to chop branches, but to pull out the trees completely. That way there won’t be much habitat loss, she added.
