Puducherry: Lack of space forces officials to plant trees in the middle of roads

Pavements are meant for pedestrians, though in the Indian context, they end up becoming the repositories of all that cannot be — for various reasons — on their adjacent streets, buildings or land.

Besides itinerant vendors and other street-side commercial and personal establishments, pavements are now also the preferred pathway for underground cables. So, it is not surprising that age-old Indian pavement dwellers, trees, are finding themselves crowded out even in idyllic Puducherry.

But even if the authorities there were constrained from placing saplings in the spaces where trees were uprooted by 2011’s Cyclone Thane because greenery hindered the efficacy of streetlights, it is difficult to understand why they decided instead to plant them in the middle of the famed cobbled roads of the French quarter, citing lack of space on pavements.

The central location, of course, could have been intended to highlight “green shoots of recovery” — a favourite phrase these days — in places where they could not possibly be missed.

Sadly, that is exactly what happened as most saplings were soon run over by cars not accustomed to veering around this addition to the roadscape besides potholes and cattle. It is hoped that India’s really congested cities will not take a leaf from Puducherry’s book on this issue.