Hyderabad: Public seethe as trees cut, felled by govt agencies

Rajendranagar: The activists have alleged that instead of ensuring the protection of trees as per the WALTA act, the government agencies such as electricity department and GHMC in Rajendranagar are resorting to violation of Act, with excuses for laying roads, setting up transformers and fixing dangling cables etc.

The chopping of trees is going unabated.

"Saplings take three to four decades to get into full shape. When I questioned about it, they gave flimsy excuses. What is the use of providing facilities at the expense of environment and human suffering?" rued Mushtaq Mirza, a resident of Shivrampally.

The Section 28 of the Telangana Water, Land and Trees Act, 2002 says if any owner desires to cut a tree he shall apply in writing to the designated officer for permission and whoever violates any of the provisions of the act shall be punishable with a fine not less than Rs 1,000 which may extend to Rs 5,000.

Cutting of trees without prior permission shall be punishable with a fine which shall not be less than two times the value of such a tree and may extend upto 5 times of the value of such a tree.

"In some cases, officials may act but only if it is taken to their notice by the locals. But largely these incidents go unnoticed as nobody gives a hoot to the rules being set to protect the trees from chopping. There is no accountability at all," bemoaned Laxhman, a resident of Mailardevpally.

When contacted, the TSSPDC Assistant Engineer Katedhan Sudheer said "I was completely unaware of chopping off a huge tree. What has come to my notice is that few branches of the tree were cut to establish a transformer in the colony. We will inspect the area tomorrow and take stock of the situation."

"These trees consume the carbon under their circumference and purify the air thereby providing fresh air to humans. This would surely attract the wrath of nature. This is a criminal assault on environment and on the life of the humans," said Lubna Sarwat, a city-based environmental activist.

"Ward wise inventory should be there to make a comprehensive assessment of public trees notified in the area, regular supervision and to ensure their protection but no such initiative is taken yet. This is the main objective of having a mandal and ward-wise WALTA authorities," she added.