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Ludhiana: Meant to be pruned, 12 tress cut at civil hospital
The civil hospital’s senior medical officer Amarjit Kaur said, “ Permission was only granted for pruning the trees, not cutting them down. We usually only allow the cutting of old tree branches to prevent accidents”
In a turn of events, civil hospital authorities mistakenly cut as many as 12 standing trees on its premises without proper permission from the forest department.
However, the hospital authorities claimed they granted permission only for pruning to prevent patients in outpatient opioid-assisted treatment (OOAT) centers from escaping by climbing trees.
The hospital staff said the authorities had called a few Kashmiris for pruning trees near the drug de-addiction center and they were also allowed to take the branches after pruning. But they axed the trees from the middle and took the wood away.
A hospital staff seeking anonymity said, “There was no supervision when they were axing the trees. And, taking benefit of it, they cut the trees from the middle and took away the wood.”
Drug de-addiction center nodal officer Vivek Goyal said, “ Approximately 10-12 patients per year escape from the OOAT center by climbing these trees. Recently, a patient sustained a broken leg while attempting to climb a tree.”
“Previously, we had the trees pruned, but this time they were cut too much by mistake. We allowed pruning to stop OOAT patients from escaping,” he added.
The hospital’s senior medical officer Amarjit Kaur said, “ Permission was only granted for pruning the trees, not cutting them down. We usually only allow the cutting of old tree branches to prevent accidents.”
Acting on the issue, an environmental activist from Ludhiana sent an email complaint about the tree cutting to chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The activist has accused the hospital of illegally selling 14 quintals of wood obtained from cutting these trees. However, the hospital authorities denied all the accusations made against them.
