Pujashree Burman (15) is a Class X student of Carmel High School. A resident of Santiniketan Apartment at 66, Central Road in south Kolkata, Pujashree is apparently no different from her peers with an ardent love for thrillers and suspense books, classical music, movies et al. However, what sets her apart is the strand of a green crusader that runs in her veins.

Pujashree has grown up as a person with love for the environment and nature. In fact, in this she has been inspired by her maternal uncle and mother who nurtures plants and grew its different species. And it is this ardent love for nature that has forced her to lodge an FIR against her neighbour who has been felling trees in her locality.

As it transpired a few weeks ago she dared to do something that most citizens would not even dream of doing. Pujashree stood up and complained against her neighbour who axed a fig tree and was in the process of felling another.

Pujashree recalls that when she was in Class VIII she was at her wits’ end when the same neighbour axed branches and leaves of a mango-bearing tree which she had adored for long. However, this time when the girl came back from school she went straight to her mother and said that she wanted to lodge a complaint with the police. With words of advice from Rita Banerjee, her Nature Club teacher, and her mother Kakoli Burman in tow, Pujashree lodged an FIR against her neighbour. She also went to the local KMC office but as it was a weekend she had to come back.

... contd.