On June 5, Vinod Jain, an environmental activist along with 60 to 70 other tree lovers formed a human chain outside Savitribai Phule Pune University to protest against Pune Municipal Corporation's decision to axe down 96 trees for road widening.
Activists demanded to halt the cutting of the heritage trees and asked for details on the previous permissions of tree cuttings approved by the Garden Department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Citizens have also started a petition to save the university trees on the website change.org. Approximately 1500 people have already signed the petition in 48 hours which would be sent to the commisioner and other local authorities. You can view the petition here.
Last week several news reports brought the decision to axe these trees to the fore. Read: Authorities want to axe 96 trees in Pune, some as old as 100 years
After the protest, the number of objections on cutting of the trees on university road rose to 70 from 42 in a single day, garden department continues to recieve objections even though last date for submission was June 6.
"The human chain was a step in securing the trees for the future. It is the one decision of the construction of the flyover which has resulted into traffic problems. We, the citizens of Pune should come together and not let trees be axed." said Ameya Jagtap, an activist who participated in the protest, in a post on Facebook.
17000 trees hacked in 10 years
The organiser of the protest, Jain added, "The protest is not only about stopping the PMC from cutting these particular trees. We are going beyond that and asking for transparency in approvals for tree cuttings. Over 17000 trees have been cut over a decade and no accurate tree census has happened after 1996-97".
The activists filed an RTI according to which the Garden Department conducted last tree census in 2013, where 48 lakh trees have been marked. Jain adds that the census is not accurate as PMC does not have maps marked with tree cover, the data used is of the survey of forest department and other individual private firms.
What the law says
According to High Court orders, if a tree is cut for any reason, the responsible must plant three saplings in its place and keep a deposit of 10,000 rupee against one sapling planted. "As since 2013 the approvals for tree cuttings are given by the Garden Department, it is the departments duty to check on the plantation of saplings, maintenance of the plants and collection of deposits. But the Garden Department has been tampering with numbers in their reports" added Jain.
As per Garden Department data, in the year 2013-14 and 2014-15 a total of 3294 trees have been cut or replanted, against the total only a mere 3800 trees have been planted, not even close to the 1:3 ratio required.
Local authorities seem clueless
"The PMC has not checked for the saplings which people have allegedly planted. When we asked the tree department for locations of the tree plantations, they said it is on Sinhgad and Taljai hills. While the order clearly states that the saplings must be either planted in the same plot or with corporation limits, how were tree plantations on forest department and heritage department owned land allowed? pointed out Jain who will be asking these questions in the public meeting to be held by commissioner Kunal Kumar to discuss on the objections against the university tree cuttings.
For last two years, the Garden Department has approved 30 percent tree cutting permissions for trees that are dry or damaged endangering safety of citizens, the other permissions were for road widening, building constructions and water or electricity pipeline work.
Human chain outside Pune university - Ameya Jagtap
Not only is the garden department unaware of non plantation of saplings but is also ignorant of the cutting down of specific tree species which are heritage or endangered. 170 sandalwood trees in a decade have been allowed to be cut down and while officials say that the trees have been replanted but they do not know where.
Such is also the case with old Banyan and Tamarind trees which form a part of the heritage of the city.
Official Speak
Protests from the citizens have halted the process of tree cutting and the garden department will have to explain the reason for approving the tree cuttings in the public meeting. Tree officer Mohan Dhere explained "On the issue of the university road trees, we have sent the objections to the commissioner and are waiting for further instructions. The city is getting the country's first digitised tree census using Geographical Information System (GIS) and we have tenders floating for the same already. As far as the 1:3 ratio is concerned, we have taken deposits from private bungalow owners and construction companies. We see to it that the plantations are done and we keep taking up follow ups on the same"
Human chain outside Pune university - Ameya Jagtap
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 "Environmentally conscious citizens of Pune making a human chain along the trees that were planned to be axed by authorities. The list of trees to be cut down consist of a few trees which age over 100 years.")
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