Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) has asked the Lucknow Nagar Nigam (LNN) via a letter to remove 63,799 trees from Hanuman Setu to the Nishatganj bridge to make space for the DefExpo 2020, IANS has reported.

The land is set to be cleared of trees by January 15 of the coming year, after which it will be handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which will be hosting the event.

In his letter, LDA secretary M P Singh has said that they had spent Rs 59.06 lakhs on planting the trees along the Gomti River.
 

DefExpo India

The DefExpo is organised by India so as to have Business-to-Business (B2B) as well as Government-to-Government (G2G) interactions in relation to the defence sector on an international level. It will be held from February 5 to 8 around the theme ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ with special focus on ‘Digital Transformation of Defence.’

It is a massive defence manufacturing outreach program that is being organised to showcase the latest arms and weapons available with the Indian defence forces.

Uttar Pradesh has been ramping up on its defence industrial infrastructure, which is likely the reason for choosing Lucknow as the host of the event. It has four units of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and nine ordnance factory units.

Earlier in November, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said the event will showcase the government’s intent to achieve a turnover of USD 26 billion in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025.
 

Lucknow’s deteriorating air quality

The Uttar Pradesh capital ranks fourth in the list of the most polluted cities in India. At the time of publication, Lucknow’s Air Quality Index (AQI) is at an alarming 288 when “good” AQI is considered to be between the 0 to 50 range.

On November 4, the Lucknow Trade Board reportedly distributed masks to people in prominent areas of the city after the air in the state capital continued to remain toxic.”

With the rising winter chill, fog that engulfs the city is likely to mix the particulate matter and worsen the air quality futher. Environmentalist Venkatesh Dutta said, “Immediate measures are needed as with the fall in temperature, there is a spike in pollution by around 50 units every day.

The Central Pollution Control Board reported that the increased particular matter causes an increase in different health issues such as respiratory problems, liver fibrosis, lung/liver cancer, heart strokes, and bone problems. Live Mint has reported on a number of people simply collapsing breathing the air and being taken to emergency to put on oxygen masks.

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