Tree authority to reduce indiscriminate trimming after Bombay High Court orders

The tree department is making amends to its tree cutting practices after the Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for giving blanket powers to various agencies for indiscriminately cutting/pruning trees.

A senior BMC officer said, "We have given permissions to authorities like Railways because many a times branches or height comes in way of over-head wires. The trees are mostly trimmed for maintenance purpose. It is true that sometimes more than required branches are cut but our officers gave permissions to avoid public mishap. We have find an alternative now. We will find that and accordingly we will submit our review to HC on Friday."

"If blanket permissions are revoked, some small or urgent projects or maintenance works may get delayed but we have to follow the honorable court's orders. We have now started meeting every 15-20 days as against every 40 days," the officer added.

Petitioner Zoru Bathena said, "The court's observations are absolutely correct. In the grab of trimming dangerous trees or cutting dead trees huge branches/tops of trees are cut, without following the process of law."

"The BMC has sought time and will submit its review on Friday. The petitioner is also waiting for other concerned authorities to file their replies to get a clearer picture and I think, subsequently, other authorities may also submit their review," added Bathena.