Nagpur: Not just age-old green cover, the city is also losing recently done compensatory afforestation by government agencies. Mysterious felling of trees that were planted inside Ambazari garden has been brought to the fore by alert citizens.
Regular morning walkers recently noticed stumps of different trees lying near a temple inside the garden premises. According to them, a group of unidentified miscreants have been felling the trees slowly and discreetly at odd hours when the garden remains isolated.
As per citizens, these trees were planted around two years back by government agencies as part of the state’s ambitious plantation drive. “Earlier, the entire garden was open for visitors and hence we could roam around freely. These trees are being felled in the area where entry is now restricted,” said Ajay Kadu, a private sector employee and a green lover.
To avoid public attention, the left-over stumps of the trees are being burnt. “They first cut the timber in pieces for easy transportation. Then, they burn the stumps and other remains to ensure no evidence is left,” added Kadu.
As reported by TOI, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has taken possession of the city’s biggest park from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Citizens suspect the trees are deliberately being cut for some commercial agenda. “What is the point of planting new trees if we can’t protect them? Authorities should inspect the area and keep it under strict vigil. They need to create fear of punishment to stop the illegal tree felling,” said Kadu.
NMC garden department officials said no permission to cut trees inside the garden had been granted. “We have received complaint regarding the felling. We will soon conduct an inspection of the area and try to identify the offenders,” they told TOI.
The lush green pockets owned by government agencies in the city continue to get destroyed due to poor protection. Earlier, TOI had reported about similar disappearance of nearly 288 trees on land owned by the Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (Mafsu) in Bharat Nagar.