Contrary to media reports, trees were not chopped down during PM Modi’s visit to Odisha

In recent times, the agenda-driven journalism has taken precedence over impactful, honest journalism often resulting in stories which are either entirely false or at best misleading. Curiously enough, a major chunk of these stories appears to be against the current dispensation. PM Modi has been one of the favorite targets of such vindictive, agenda-driven journalism by mainstream media as well as the digital one which has become synonymous with fringe journalism bordering on pulp fiction. In what yet again exposes how the mainstream media outlets and online portals can stoop to any extent in order to malign PM Modi, it has been reported that over thousands of trees were chopped down for creating space for temporary helipads and for security reasons on January 13 for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Odisha on January 15.

The Hindu has reported, “Under the urban plantation programme, saplings were planted on 2.25 hectares controlled by the Indian Railways in 2016. As a vacant land was required for the helipad, authorities had to clear 1.25 hectares.”

Repeat offender, in terms of dubious news stories, The Logical Indian was not far behind in picking this up. Soon after, the usual suspects (The Wire, Scroll etc.) followed suit.

Local Media claimed that around 3,500 trees were cut down.

However, now it has come to light that no tree was massacred in order to make helipad for PM Modi, only a few shrubs were removed. Times of India Bhubaneswar has also tweeted a January 7 video prior to the construction of the helipad. The video shows that there were no big trees on the spot.

Shrubs cannot be termed ‘trees’ by any stretch of the imagination. According to biology dictionary, a shrub is a woody plant that is typically less than 8 meters tall. Unlike a tree, shrubs have several stems and vary widely in size; some shrubs are less than 2 meters high, while others are around 6 to 8 meters tall.

Earlier, Union Petroleum Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, rubbished the media reports that trees were cut ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Odisha. According to Firstpost report, Pradhan had claimed that people who are “afraid” of the prime minister’s visit are trying to spread a false campaign by “misusing” forest officials. He also added, “It is the local administration which decides as to where the prime minister’s helicopter will land.”

Many other people on social media also alleged that fake news about chopping of trees was spread by local newspapers run by the incumbent Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s cronies. Patnaik has all the reason to do this because he is feeling uneasy about the BJP’s expanding clout in the Odisha. In the recent time, the BJP has emerged as the principal challenger to the BJD rule in Odisha.

This fake news once again exposes the true face of the liberal brigade and news traders. The leftist cabal seems to be politically desperate and is going to employ all means, fair or foul, in order to malign the incumbent Modi government and relentlessly pursue their agenda.

Last year, PM Modi received United Nation’s highest environmental honour, ‘Champions of the Earth’ award. PM Modi received the award for his “bold environmental leadership on the global stage.” The UN Environment Programme said, “Under Modi’s leadership, India pledged to eliminate all single-use plastics in the country by 2022. Prime Minister Modi also supports and champions the International Solar Alliance, a global partnership to scale up solar energy.”

PM Modi is more concerned about the environment than the leftists masquerading as environmental activists. The recent report was just another failed attempt by the cabal to the malign image of PM Modi.