pune emotions run high at the sight of fergusson college road today residents former corporators people who studied at fergusson college environmentalists and shop owners along the 24km arterial street have seen the road go from a charming avenue to a trundling street in two decadesmost of them are angry at the colossal waste of resources in first widening the road then turning it into a oneway and now trying to make it a smart street by reducing its width all at the loss of its 75 odd banyan and peepal trees that could have sequestered tonnes of carbon emissionthe pune municipal corporation which decided to widen the road width in 199697 steamrolled the widespreadopposition to the felling of the trees to increase the carriageway protests had erupted when the pmc decided to hack down 75 trees to accommodate the increasing traffic on the then twoway street twenty years later the pmc is back to reducing the carriageway as a part of the smart street makeoversuch a back and forth policy for an arterial street can hardly benefit the city several citizens said sujit patwardhan from parisar an environmental ngo was among those who had opposed the felling of the trees in the mid 1990s cutting the trees down and converting the street into a oneway has achieved nothing he addedhad the trees been left alone the space between them would have served as parking and for smart street beautification he said adding that even after the road was shorn of its tree cover and widened the traffic problems remained ten years later the road was converted into a oneway doubling the space for cars making it a bigger messthere are two ways of dealing with congestion one is widening the road and constructing flyovers and the other is to ensure mobility through an efficient public transport in pune a big thrust was on road widening in the 1960s 70s and 80s roads have been widened as there is financial gain without understanding traffic theories patwardhan addeda different timeretired surgeon dilip kanade the road transitioned from green to glass to concrete he said in the last 30 years the road has changed beyond recognitionthe entrance to the road was once marked by a huge banyan tree now a big shoe store stands in its place as one travelled down the road there was the greenery from the theosophical lodge situated deep inside its garden the right side of the road was interspersed with a row of shady trees in the 1980s and early 1990s the road in front of the fergusson college used to be free of parked cars thus adding to the serenity of that hallowed institution he saida resident who lives on the road in a 50yearold apartment said till two decades ago fergusson college road was treelined the trees were not slim each of the 70odd trees on either side of the road had thick trunks and were tall the canopy making the road an avenue