In the Sunday Express edition of July 19, my attention was snagged by an article about replacing some of the trees as part of the egregious Central Vista ‘revamp’ scheme. I read it carefully to see if they know what they are doing.
It begins by talking about the need to do some replanting in order to bring back “in principle” Lutyens’ original design because the big jamuns, in particular, are nearing the end of their natural lives. Sounds reasonable, but I’ll get back to this in a moment.
The article goes on to quote Bimal Patel’s design firm as saying that “The original tree palette had two major species, Jamun and Ficus. Mainly three types of Ficus were in the palette – Peepal, Banyan and the Wild Ficus.” Because “the Ficus trees have an estimated lifespan of 200-500 years”, it said, there are no plans to replant any of them. Just the Jamuns. And perhaps also some of the new trees that had been planted later without reference to the original planting scheme.
I jumped into my car when I read this because I don’t recall any peepals or banyans in the Central Vista scheme. Sure enough. Nyet. Nothing but a few stray peepals, most of them too young to have seen Independence Day in 1947, and most certainly not part of any ‘scheme’. I saw two banyans in all, again, not part of Lutyens’ plans.
Leaves of a peepal tree. Photo: Flickr/Dinesh Valke CC BY SA 2.0
What is going on here?
From a scientific standpoint, let me first point out that the design firm’s use of the word “Ficus” to refer to a particular kind of tree doesn’t inspire confidence.
“Ficus” is a huge genus of some 900 or so species of fig trees with some shrubby kinds and even a few lianas. To say that Ficus was one of the 2 species in the planting palette is nonsensical. It’s like saying that one of the species I have in my lake is a “waterbird” – it’s that imprecise and non-specific. You don’t expect a professional landscape or horticulture firm to be this ignorant of the meaning of a well-known botanical category.
Alright, let’s elide that for the moment. We know what peepals and banyans are (even if they aren’t present on the Central Vista). But now how about “the Wild Ficus”?
Is this absurd label an admission of ignorance on their part? They obviously don’t know the identity of the large umbrageous fig that lines both sides of Rashtrapati Bhavan’s ceremonial front arcade, because there aren’t any other species of Ficus there with the exception of a few pilkhans. There’s a pure avenue of pilkhans on Dalhousie road, leading in towards the Secretariat, but you wouldn’t say it was part of the Central Vista.
So HCP Design – Bimal Patel’s architecture firm – is clearly making heavy weather of its Ficuses. Not only does it not know the identity of one of them, but it has also invented the fact that peepals and banyans are part of the original scheme.
Also Read: Behind Modi’s Plans to Redevelop the Central Vista is a Covert Political Agenda
Coming back now to the jamuns, there has been some debate about the precise identity of the jamuns along Rajpath. These are particularly large, broad-leaved jamuns and the matter of their correct identity is important because the genus Syzygium is known to be particularly ‘polymorphic’. Which essentially means that jamuns come in slightly differing forms, similar enough to be clubbed together but not dissimilar enough to be separated into different species. Often, this is just an admission that not enough rigorous taxonomic work has gone into sorting out closely allied species within a genus.
I was first alerted to the special identity of Rajpath’s jamuns when I spoke to a jamun seller there who had bought the auctioned rights to collect the produce. He said there’s a clear difference between the smaller, rounder bhadaiyan jamun or jamoa which ripens later, and the larger ashaadiya or rai jamun which matures in late June. Which is what he had in his tokri. Many botanists agree that these differences correspond respectively to the species Syzygium cumini and Syzygium nervosum, while some others stick to their guns that these are just insignificant variations within a species.
Aerial view of Rajpath in New Delhi, with the Central Vista stretching from Rashtraati Bhavan on the left to the National Stadium on the right. Photo: Flickr/CC-BY-2.0
Why is this important? For the simple reason that the difference(s) correspond to form and ‘habit’, a word that is used in botany to describe everything that is distinctive about a plant. The way its leaves droop, its silhouette, the architecture of its branching, all the various things big and small that make up the characteristic impression that we recognise even from a great distance. The jamoa has thin, willowy leaves and a strikingly pale bark. The rai jamun is more stately and wide-spreading, with broader leaves and, as I’ve already pointed out, larger and later-maturing fruit. Surely these differences count for something if you’re setting out to plant up a grand ceremonial avenue? Isn’t that what you would expect from a professional horticulturist? Professional landscapers go to great lengths to first choose and then find exactly the right kind of forms.
Instead, it seems fairly evident that important decisions about the Central Vista land and tree-scape will be taken by people who don’t know their figs and know very little else about the important characters of trees they will plant.
When I drove out to Vijay Chowk on Sunday morning, I looked first at the pine trees that fringe the chowk. I don’t much like them because they look and feel out of place. Then there are the maulshrees which are an important part of the character and look of the lawns in Vijay Chowk. I took some pictures of bistendu trees that are routinely cut into simple topiaries. These are the only trees that are native to Delhi’s dry ecology that have been used in an ornamental design in the city.
Bistendu trees at Vijay Chowk. Photo: Pradip Krishen
All of these trees are part of the original “palette” that Lutyens and Mustoe devised – even the odd-bod pine trees. Isn’t it worrying that HCP Design seems totally unaware of this? How can we trust a horticulture agency that doesn’t know its marbles?
This is just another big reason why the revamp of the Central Vista is a terrible idea.
Pradip Krishen is the author-photographer of Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide (2006) and Jungle Trees of Central India: A Field Guide for Tree Spotters (2015).