BENGALURU: Residents of Jayanagar are up in arms over illegal felling of trees in the area. On Sunday morning, Jayanagar MLA Soumya Reddy took to Twitter against illegal felling of trees. Her tweet received a flurry of positive responses from netizens. The issue of trees being injected with chemicals was also discussed by residents during the weekend. While many appreciated the MLA for her green concern, a few of them wanted her to take a stand against the recent proposal of the elevated corridor as well.

“It is brought to our notice that trees are being cut overnight without permission by few commercial establishments and house owners in Jayanagar. These incidents are heartbreaking and stringent punishment will be inflicted on those harming trees. They will be prosecuted. Request public to contact Jayanagar MLA office in case they notice illegal cutting of trees. Illegal tree felling is a criminal offence when done without obtaining prior permission from the Jurisdictional Tree Officer appointed under the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act & BBMP Forest Department,” said the MLA.

When contacted, Rupesh Kumar, a resident of Jayanagar told The New Indian Express that he has seen many people cutting trees in the area at night. “A majestic Gulmohar tree was axed in my area. When I tried to stop the workers from converting the trunk to logs, I was told that the orders were from the higher authorities,” Rupesh added.

Residents allege that many people even pour acid on the bark of the tree. “I have received complaints that the trees are also being injected with acid and other chemicals, using holes drilled into the bark or acid is poured on the stumps. It’s really sad,” Soumya Reddy said.   “A deep hole is drilled into full-grown trees to inject the chemicals. Even a 12-year-old tree will slowly die,” Sudhansu, a resident, added.