E-Paper
Forest dept imposes ₹7 lakh fine on firm for illegal tree felling
Pune forest department has imposed fine under the Maharashtra Tree Felling Act 1967 for illegal tree cutting
As the multinational (MNC) John Deere has failed to provide a satisfactory response to allegations of illegal tree cutting levelled against it by a citizen despite repeated opportunities to do so, the Pune forest department has imposed a fine of ₹7 lakh on the company under the Maharashtra Tree Felling Act 1967, said a forest officer.
John Deere is a tractor manufacturing and agricultural product services company located in the Sanaswadi area.
Last year in June, the company obtained permission from the forest department to cut 510 trees and translocate 236 trees. A bond paper for the same was signed and submitted by the company to the forest department. However, in the first week of September this year, the forest department received a complaint from a citizen that the company had illegally razed 14 trees and constructed a road over the roots of these trees. Thereafter, forest officials from the Shirur forest range visited John Deere on September 5 and found out that a road had been built over the roots of the trees.
The forest department immediately issued a show-cause notice to the company, and asked company representatives to submit their responses personally on September 9. The company representatives responded on September 10, refuting all allegations levelled against John Deere.
In the wake of the unsatisfactory response from John Deere, the forest department on September 19 imposed a fine of ₹7 lakh on John Deere for cutting 14 trees including 12 neem trees and two ficus trees.
Pratap Jagtap, range forest officer from Shirur, said, “We have conducted an inspection. A chance was also provided to the company to submit its response and after that based on existing proofs, we have taken action against the company. I have also issued instruction to the forest guards at Shirur to submit a report about tree plantation along with geotagged photos.’’
“We have also received a complaint regarding disturbance to wildlife due to tree-cutting. The complainant mentioned that there were owl hollows in the trees which might have housed eggs and this tree-cutting might have caused disturbance to other birds nesting on these trees. Although we have not taken any action in this regard yet, necessary action will be taken after further investigation,” said Jagtap.
Rajaram Rajamani, global human resources director and chief product manager, John Deere, through a WhatsApp message informed that the media spokesperson of the company is not available at the moment and that the company will connect with Hindustan Times as and when possible.
