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PMC fells over 500 trees in ’23, has no record of replantation
While PMC has axed more than 500 trees in 2023, the civic body has ‘zero’ record of the number of trees replanted against those felled
PUNE: While the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has razed more than 500 trees in the past one year for various developmental works, the civic body has ‘zero’ records of the number of trees replanted against the number of trees felled. However, the PMC garden department is blaming various other departments for the lack of replantation records. As per the rules, the agency responsible for axing trees has to replant an equal number of trees to compensate for the number of trees flattened.
Ashok Ghorpade, chief superintendent of the PMC garden department, said, “The PMC tree authority committee gives permission for cutting trees as per the demand of different PMC departments for developmental works. Before giving permission, the tree authority committee members visit the site and verify the demand.”
“As per the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975 (Amendment), it is mandatory to replant trees which are of the same age as the trees felled in case chopping of trees is allowed for developmental projects,” Ghorpade said. He highlighted that replantation has to be carried out within three months of cutting the trees.
According to information provided by the various departments of the PMC, more than 500 full-grown trees have been razed in the past one year by the civic body.
Jagdish Khanore, head of the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) project, said, “For the construction of 10 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPS), we took permission from the PMC tree authority committee and cut down around 400 trees in various places.”
“The contractor replanted some trees in the Phursungi area. It is now the responsibility of the contractor to take care of the replanted trees for five years as per the conditions in the tender. We have made financial provision for the maintenance of the replanted trees,” Khanore said.
Nandkumar Jagtap, chief superintendent of the water supply department, said, “We took permission from the tree authority committee to cut down around 70 trees for the construction of elevated water reservoirs at Hanuman Tekdi and Fergusson College Road. Out of the 70, we have razed 50 trees so far. We have to replant trees as per government specifications.”
Surendra Karpe, senior official of the Mula-Mutha Riverfront Development Project, said, “While we cut 34 trees for a 300-metre sample stretch in the Yerawada area, we replanted trees along the riverside. As per the detailed project report (DPR), the figure is around 6,000…”
For the widening of Nagar Road, the PMC road department chopped 35 full-grown trees recently. While speaking to Hindustan Times, Somnath Banker, assistant municipal commissioner and tree officer of the Nagar Road ward office, said, “We gave permission to the road department. It is the responsibility of the road department to replant the trees. I have sent letters to road department officials to furnish information about the replanting of trees against the 35 trees cut. We haven’t received any information till date.”
Whereas one of the senior officials of the PMC road department said, “It is the duty of the PMC garden department to provide space to replant trees. How can we replant trees without proper space? Lack of space is another problem for replantation of trees in the city. We can plant only so many trees on the roadside…”
In 2013, Pune had 38 lakh trees but the civic administration now claims there are 57 lakh trees with 3,622 trees ‘replanted’ by the municipal road zonal office. However, there are doubts about the accuracy of these numbers and citywide information is not readily available. This raises concerns about the municipality’s compliance with the Maharashtra Tree Protection and Conservation Regulations. Tree cutting within city limits has often sparked controversy and despite permissions granted by the municipal administration, environmentalists have often taken matters to the court. Since 2017, the tree authority has been decentralised for regional functions, providing each regional office with an annual budget of ₹12 lakh to care for the trees. This includes activities like watering, fertilising, pruning, and replanting. The tree authority officer, currently the assistant commissioner of the regional office, oversees these efforts. However, there is no centralised system to monitor replantation of trees against the felling of trees.
