The Whispering Deodars Of Shimla

Nobody really knows who planted the first deodar tree in Shimla. But for years, these deodars—known as the green heritage of ancient Simla (now Shimla)—have given the pristine and wooded hill station a distinct identity. However, these deodars have also constantly struggled to survive, slowly giving away to illegal felling, reckless constructions and deforestation. Their natural ageing is also a grave issue. Disappearing deodars are a worrying phenomenon in the urban hill station as well as an environmental concern.

Just imagine how Shimla will look like in the absence of these large, evergreen coniferous trees? The possibility is both horrifying and heartbreaking. Some go as far as to say that Shimla will die in the absence of deodars.

These deodars, discovered by British officer Lt Rose in 1819 during the Gorkha War, were extensively planted during the British era for ornamental and afforestation purposes. The colonial administration, recognising the suitability of the area’s climate and terrain, initiated large-scale plantations of deodars in and around Shimla.

Later in 1864, Shimla was made the summer capital of British India because of its favourable climate and strategic location.

Its cooler temperatures provided a comfortable retreat for the British officials and their families from the scorching heat of the plains.

Shimla’s rise from a solitary wooded cottage set up by Lt Rose to a prominent British hill station is as remarkable as its scenic beauty. The British valued Shimla’s environmental heritage and did everything they could to preserve it.

In Edward J Buck’s book Simla- Past and Present (1904), deodars have been described as an integral part of Shimla. “Simla itself is essentially ‘the hill of deodars’ of which beautiful conifers Kipling (Rudyard Kipling, India-born British writer) and many before him have described the peculiar charm,” he said.

Deodars have featured in Rudyard Kipling’s writings Under the Deodars, an 1889 short story collection.

Some of the deodars in Shimla have a collective age well over centuries. But their plunder for construction—private and commercial buildings replacing green deodars—is fast changing the green landscape. The Shimla Smart City project is the worst thing to happen in the town, say some residents. Hundreds of tonnes of steel and cement were brought to Shimla to build heavy structures, flyways, replacing old wood railings with carved steel, new foot bridges and cement pathways. Green tall deodars were brutally sliced down and pruned.

If all this does not alarm you then listen to a few voices of anger and concern in the town.

“Where will I walk, breathe? Will I be able to show these deodars to my granddaughter a few years from now? I am already 86. I walk 10,000 steps daily, As I see an organised plunder happening in the town, I am left with no option but to raise my voice, as loud as I can. I will not let a single deodar be axed in the green belt,” says V P Mohan, an environmentalist, who retired as Principal Chief Conservator of forests.

He is the man credited for getting 17 green belts notified as ‘no-construction’ zones in Shimla. He got inter-linked chains put along the entire forest road—a walkers’ paradise in the foothills of Jakhu next to the Raj Bhawan.

As per Mohan, the Shimla Development Plan, recently approved by the Supreme Court, is in reality the “Shimla Destruction Plan”. All wrong facts were presented before the Hon’ble court and a well-reasoned order of the National Green Tribal (NGT) was set aside in order to open the precious ‘green belts' to construction activities. The construction and building approvals began within no time at Shimla Municipal Corporation. It is a complete surrender to some vested interests to kill Shimla and its deodars.

“I have approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to set up an expert task force and save the deodars of Shimla at all costs,” he told a media conference, launching a single-man drive. He has coined a new term—"green corruption” that needs to be curbed to stop the ‘Queen of hills’ from becoming a slum.

Reckless construction, widening of roads and building new roads through green forest patches have all resulted in large-scale felling of deodar trees. It happens almost every day and nobody is bothered about saving these trees.

Way back in 2018, the Himachal Pradesh High Court took up the cause of saving standing forest trees within the municipal limits of Shimla against illicit felling and a systematic loss of green cover. The court ordered the numeration and marking of each standing tree. The intention of the court was to get surviving deodars implanted with a device known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) tags. It is a GPS system seen effective in saving all the identified trees.

Till March 2018, the forest department recorded 2,81,780 trees to a total over 4,00,00 in Shimla’s urban forest. But things did not move any further and the forest department gave up.

In the order, the court had shared its grave concern about Shimla. It said: “The protection of the environment is a constitutional duty. Right to Life includes the Right to Live in a healthy environment, which the plants do provide. In fact, no other town or city in India has a greater number of trees of deodar species, which take more than 100 years to grow and mature as a full tree. But the adverse effect of felling of trees has been noticed in the recent past."

During the recent monsoon calamity, Shimla’s long-term existence came under threat due to landslides and building collapse, primarily due to uncontrolled and unscientific construction practices. Multi-storey buildings crumbled like a pack of cards. Landslides uprooted green deodars in huge numbers. A few stand dangerously exposed to their roots and could fall flat. No effort to raise new deodar plantations has worked till now.

The citizens, instead of taking the blame for the illegal constructions done on steep/loose slopes and unstable soil, get standing trees quickly removed to secure their buildings. Officials confirm the felling of over 400 trees on written requests of citizens after the 2023 monsoon rains. In all, a wealth of 1,000 deodars and other trees was lost to the disaster and also to the post-disaster actions taken.

Studies by experts also indicate deodars are falling victim to ageing. The trees can be seen developing flat (table) tops, indicating that they have attained complete maturity. The constructions allowed in the green belt are bound to spell a doom to the town's green wealth and crumbling heritage.

Shimla historian Raaja Bhasin agrees that Shimla and its deodars have deep historical roots. The tree is culturally and environmentally significant to the town's heritage. The climatic factors and human activities—mainly construction activities—are emerging as the main reasons behind the rapidly withering deodars whose natural regeneration is very slow.