Tagore family raises voice against felling of historic trees in Santiniketan

Rabindranath Tagore's family protests tree felling at UNESCO World Heritage site, Visva-Bharati, sparking conservation concerns.

The family of Rabindranath Tagore is raising its voice against the felling of a large number of trees in the Visva-Bharati campus that they say stood even during the time of the poet and also figured in his works.

“As many as 55 trees were marked in one particular area, of them some 45 are gone. There are 22 marked elsewhere, they stand as of now. This goes directly against the documented task of the UNESCO Heritage Committee,” educationist Sudripta Tagore, who is a descendant of Rabindranath’s elder brother Satyendranath and himself a former student of Visva-Bharati, told The Hindu.

Santiniketan, of which the Rabindranath Tagore-founded campus is a part, was recognised by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in September 2023. Santiniketan itself was established by Rabindranath’s father Debendranath.

“The management plan of the Heritage Committee, shared on their website, clearly says that ‘landscape or natural component includes the historic trees’ and ‘in such cases where tree cover is present, no felling would be allowed for mature trees; this would be defined by the committee’,” Mr. Sudripta Tagore, who was alerted by the local people about the felling of the trees on the orders of the university, pointed out.

He sought an immediate appointment with the present (and officiating) Vice-Chancellor, Sanjoy Mallik, but finally got to meet him only on February 26, when the V-C himself is said to have expressed concern and surprise at the destruction.

“It seems these plans were sanctioned during the previous regime (Prof. Mallik took charge only in November 2023) and he was not quite aware the enormity of the carnage. He assured us he would personally visit the sites before anything further is executed. He gives us hope,” Mr. Sudripta Tagore who, until he got to meet the V-C, wrote several angry posts on social media against the administration, said.

The educationist was accompanied for the meeting by the local councillor, Chandan Mondal, who played an active role in mobilising the public against the felling of the old trees.