PMC fells 35 indigenous trees despite residents’ objection

Residents staying near the Pune-Ahmednagar Highway found PMC have cut down 35 fully-grown, indigenous trees on the road Tuesday night

Pune: Those staying near the Pune-Ahmednagar Highway are miffed with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for felling 35 fully-grown, indigenous trees that were obstructing the highway traffic on the night of Tuesday.

Residents staying near the Pune-Ahmednagar Highway found PMC have cut down 35 fully-grown, indigenous trees on the road Tuesday night. (KALPESH NUKTE/HT)

Turns out that a proposal for axing 41 trees, including the 35 trees now razed, had been tabled by the PMC road department in 2015 only to be met with stiff opposition from the locals; and had been lying idle ever since.

All 41 trees in the proposal tabled in 2015 are located along the Pune-Ahmednagar highway near Shastri Nagar Chowk and were slated to be razed to make room for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). However, protests erupted and the trees were saved. On the night of Tuesday, however, the PMC road department axed 35 out of the 41 trees (Ashoka, Nilgiri, Neem, coconut and mango), stating that they were obstructing traffic headed to Kalyaninagar.

As per records, a majority of these trees were originally part of Matruchhaya Cooperative Housing Society located adjacent to the main road. PMC had acquired some part of the housing society, along with the trees.

Upendra Vaidya, sub-engineer, PMC road department, said, “Recently, PMC road department, Ahmednagar Road ward officials, and the Pune traffic police conducted a joint survey of the traffic congestion on Ahmednagar Road. During the survey, we found that 41 trees adjacent to Matruchhaya Cooperative Housing Society on the highway are posing major obstacles to traffic near Shastrinagar Chowk. Hence, we put forward a proposal and approached the tree authority for approval for cutting down the trees.”

“We razed 35 out of the total 41 trees. The remaining trees will be replanted in the coming days. The width of Ahmednagar Road is 60 metres as mentioned in the development plan (DP). However, the width is just 50 metres at Shastrinagar Chowk despite razing the trees,” he said.

Shreedhar Galande, a resident of Ahmednagar Road, said, “In 2015, the PMC had directed that the trees be razed. However, we objected and suggested cutting only those trees that are a major obstacle to the traffic. After that, there was no development on the issue. Now suddenly, the PMC has chopped the trees at night without informing anybody. We were demanding replantation of the trees as trees take many years to grow.”

Sanjay Dhamdhare, a resident of Matruchhaya Cooperative Housing Society, said, “The trees were part of our society. During road widening, they became part of the road. All trees are fully-grown native species trees. Our demand is that only those trees be chopped which are obstructing the traffic. Another thing we don’t understand is why the PMC cut all the trees during the night. When I reached home at 12 am, all the trees were there. This is suspicious…”

Sharad Dharav, superintendent engineer, PMC road department, who handles roads in the eastern part of the city, said, “It is the busiest highway. There is less traffic at night. Therefore, we razed the trees at night to avoid traffic issues.”

VG Kulkarni, chief superintendent engineer, PMC road department, said, “The trees were located along a 200-metre stretch. We took all permissions to cut down the trees. After razing the trees, the road has been widened by 5 metres which will help ease traffic.”