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The Tree
[Installation on Barakhamba road, New Delhi’s CBD. Dec 2008] A huge dead tree, uprooted and hung from a heavy duty crane gently sways suspended over an abandoned and dilapidated bungalow on Barakhamba road [New Delhi], evoking fond memories and existing as the only standing testimony to what was once a road lined with full grown trees on a stretch that saw over 55,000 trees felled for the Metro project. Uprooting, dislocation, re-location, rehabilitation, compensation, these are not only an inevitable part of current terminology regarding developmental issues, but also function as the rhetorical axes upon which are plotted the points of conflict between the urban, semi-urban and rural sectors struggling for space as the city expands. But just as the antiquity of some of these issues have remained, so does the uncertainty over their future and ‘effective redressal’. Since the confrontations have diverse territorial interfaces - legal/illegal, formal/informal, modern/traditional, local/global, rich/poor, privileged/disenfranchised, etc., democratic consensus is often impossible to visualize, let alone realize. Any conflict today, regardless of its nature, whether artistic, environmental, social, religious or otherwise is so frequently taken to a court of law and decided upon. While there are several positions held over such issues; social, political, cultural and environmental, the legal position, though skewed, problematic and unremittingly contested, is often seen as the ‘final solution’. Several recent landmark judgements involving big dams, hydro-electric projects across major rivers, special economic zones thrusted upon rural, productive lands and other infrastructure and highway projects, have clearly demonstrated the judiciary’s lack of empathy, as well as the basic insight and special knowledge required to deal with complex environmental issues, often grounding its judgements upon the repeated interpretation of archaic laws; and swiftly initiating ‘contempt of court’ proceedings against anybody daring to question its authority. A clear danger of civil society being held to ransom by ‘a bench of few learned’men, seems not only primitive, but also undemocratic and exclusionary. The installation site’s potential as the last surviving remainder of once majestic villas with lush green gardens and huge trees and the potential of the site to be converted into a much needed lung space, once again creates a platform for charged debates over developmental issues [particularly the Delhi Metro project] provided the required resonance and background to raise further pitch for an inclusionary understanding and planning of any future infrastructure project. Krishnaraj Chonat. This installation was part of 48 Degrees Celsius--.Public.Art.Ecology held in New Delhi. |
