GUWAHATI, Feb 27 � The Geeta Mandir Bachao Samiti has made an appeal to the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to extend its support to the struggle to save the verdant Geeta Mandir hillock from indiscriminate anthropogenic activities on the plea of shifting the Geeta Nagar Police Station to the Government land adjacent to the Geeta Mandir.
The Geeta Mandir hillock, which has tremendous tourist potential in the concrete jungle of the city and which can play the role of a lung for the suffocated people of the city, will be ruined for ever if the police station is allowed to be shifted to the hillock even for a very brief period, said the Samiti.
East Guwahati MLA Captain Robin Bordoloi has reportedly promised to upgrade the Geeta Nagar Police Station.
On top of the worrisome proposal to shift the Geeta Nagar Police Station, some offices of the Electricity Board have also been sought to be shifted to the hillock, which will do more damage to the environment and ecology of the hillock, the Samiti said.
�Many of valuable teak and sal trees in the hillock will have to be felled to make room for the police station and this will lead to an irreparable loss to the biodiversity of the entire Zoo-Narengi Road area,� said the Samiti.
One of the main causes of water-logging in the entire RG Baruah Road and Zoo-Narengi Road areas is earth-cutting induced landslide in the adjacent hills. The removal of a major chunk of the green cover from the Geeta Mandir hillock will aggravate this situation, warned the Samiti.
The authorities concerned should instead go for developing the entire hillock into a botanical garden and set up a modern library. These two steps would render a great service in keeping intact the environment and in maintaining the ecological balance of the area, the Samiti said.
It needs mention here that the Geeta Mandir has a campus of 25 bighas of land, while the hillock has another 51 bighas of land and almost entire area of the hillock is covered by lush green trees.
