Banyan tree on Hapur Road has nowhere to go: Forest department gives permission to shift it to NDRF campus, NDRF says it has no space

Environmentalists have vehemently opposed the Ghaziabad forest department giving permission to residents close to Hapur road to translocate a banyan tree, citing

Environmentalists have vehemently opposed the Ghaziabad forest department giving permission to residents close to Hapur road to translocate a banyan tree, citing hindrance to traffic.

HT Image

The tree would be translocated to the campus of the eighth battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Govindpuram, said a department official. The NDRF, however, said it had no not given permission to shift the tree to their campus.

In the meantime, many branches of the tree had already been chopped, which the forest department official said was part of the translocation process.

The tree is estimated to be between 50-75 years old and is located opposite to Navyug Market in Ghaziabad city. Some people had sought permission to translocate the tree as it obstructed their view, said environmentalists.

“The tree had dense and a big canopy and pose no hindrance to traffic. All its main branches have been chopped during late night/early morning of Sunday. Last month when the issue came to light, I had raised a complaint with the authorities and was told that it would not be chopped,” said Ruchin Mehra, a city-based environmentalist. “However, it happened. And when the branches were chopped, there were no forest officials on-site. Now, only the main stem of the tree is left.”

The environmentalists have now written to the top officials of the forest department and sought intervention.

“We have sought action against the district forest department officials as there are procedural aspects that were overlooked. The tree should have been preserved. It is a big tree and its transplantation or translocation may not be possible. The age of the tree is also to be ascertained,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist.

Translocation is a highly complex process and requires machinery in case of a big and old tree.

Diksha Bhandari, divisional forest officer (DFO), said that she had given permission for translocation on November 7.

“Initially, the local people requested us to fell the tree, but we decided for translocation. The DFO has powers to decide to fell a tree in view of public interest. In this case, the tree posed hindrance to traffic and tilted towards the road. The soil near it base was loose. I have suspended the activity for now and will visit the site,” she said, while confirming that the tree would be translocated to the NDRF campus. “The chopping of branches is part of the translocation exercise and once the new shoots come, it will be shifted. It seems to be about 50-75 years but we are yet to ascertain its age.”

NDRF, however, said they had not given any permission for the translocation.

“We received a letter from the forest department for translocating the tree but we did not given permission as there are other trees on the campus and infrastructure development is ongoing. We had verbally suggested that if they translocated the tree to a ground opposite to the campus, we will help take care of it,” said PK Tiwary, commandant of the eighth battalion.