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Illegal banners nailed to trees, authorities to take action
PMC issues public notice directing people to refrain from nailing advertisements, banners, hoardings and lighting to trees
Pune: To prevent the damage caused to trees by nailing advertisements, banners, hoardings and lighting, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has issued a public notice directing people to refrain from such activities or face action from Monday.
The civic body issued the notice on August 18 directing citizens, hoteliers and commercial establishments to remove hoardings, advertisements, lighting, boards, and banners from trees within a week or face action as per the provisions of Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. Tree authorities will initiate action against violators from Monday, said officials.
“The tree officer or any other officer of the urban local authority authorised by PMC will take action to prevent the felling or destruction of any tree or for the protection of any tree. No person shall fell any tree or cause any tree to be felled in any land, whether of his ownership or otherwise, situated within the urban area, except with the previous permission of the tree officer. The person violating the norms is liable for a fine for illegal felling of trees from ₹5,000 to ₹1 lakh a tree and imprisonment up to one week,” read the notice.
Ashok Ghorpade, garden superintendent, PMC, said, “Tree authorities of all ward offices have been told to identify and initiate action. The core mandate of the tree authority is ‘increasing the tree cover in urban areas and protecting the existing ones’. There has been a substantial rise in illegal advertisements, hoardings, stickers, nails, lighting etc. put up on trees. This is illegal as it damages the trees,” he said.
The PMC officials said that people are making multiple use of trees by nailing advertisements, which is illegal. In the city, innumerable nails have been hammered into trunks and branches to install various types of halogen and LED lights in series.
“We have removed hoardings, advertisements, lighting, boards, and banners from trees. However, now the action will be taken,” the official said.
Ghorpade said that due to the fixing of big nails and trellis, the xylem and phloem (plant vascular tissue) get ruptured leading to a stoppage in carrying food and water from roots to the rest of the parts of the trees. Apart from this, nailing tears up the bark and opens spaces for pests and diseases. “We appeal to citizens to stop hammering nails and putting illegal advertisements, hoardings and lights on trees, as trees play a major part in keeping our planet alive,” he said.
