Tree cutting

According to a report in the Times of India, on 22 October residents of Kuilapalayam and Edayanchavadi villages objected to the Foundation’s decision to cut large trees along the highway connecting the two villages.

Road construction continues across Auroville, with at least 9 sections of road currently being built. Most of the construction work is being completed by CPWD; Michael Bonke’s team is building one section of the Crown, which starts at Savitri Bhavan and goes towards the PTDC.

On the 4th January, many people were shocked to see many Service trees (Peltophorum pterocarpum/ Copper Pod tree) being felled on the Crown between the Solar Kitchen and Mahalakshmi Home.

This statement, issues on 4th January 2024, is issued in response to the indiscriminate feeling of numerous trees apparently for road construction, currently taking place in Auroville.

Both before and since the Supreme Court stayed the NGT verdict, land clearance, including tree-cutting and transplantation, has taken place across Auroville.

In our July issue, we reported on recent developments on the site of the Matrimandir lake. These included the excavation of section two of the lake, which will be 250 metres long, more than twice the length of the existing test lake.

In June 2023, for 2 days, workers employed by the AVFO Land Board, cut a total of 1,863 trees aged between 3-15 years old in Revelation Forest Sanctuary.

The RA TDC shared a report on the second phase of the Matrimandir Lake excavation and tree cutting. The excavation is taking place over approximately 4 acres of land and endangers around 125 trees including “a large number of very old Neem trees”.

On April 28th, 2022, the Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chennai, comprising judicial member Justice K. Ramakrishnan and expert member K.