123 Kolkata: An overnight (Sunday) drive to hack full-grown trees in a Kasba neighbourhood met with vehement protests from the residents, who chased the tree hackers and caught a couple of them. They were later brought to Kasba police station for questioning. By the time the neighbours came to know about the tree chopping, four full-grown trees were felled by a group of hackers. Residents of the area, who formed a ‘save the tree' group, rued the loss of banyan, gulmohur, coconut, and debdaru trees.
This was not the first time that tree hackers were engaged to chop trees by a resident of the area in connivance with a real estate agent, with the ultimate motive of using a chunk of land for real estate development. A month ago, a similar attempt was made futile by the residents of Hasir Math, a neighbourhood in Kasba Bosepukur.
However, out of desperation, these hackers this time chose the dead of night for initiating the hacking exercise. Armed with an electric saw, a group of hackers targeted five to six full-grown trees and would have succeeded in their ‘mission' if Anurag Sardar, a lawyer and a resident of the area, had not woken up, disturbed by a strange sound, and raised an alarm.
"As I woke up by a strange sound, I rubbed my eyes, and my sight fell on masked men engaged in tree hacking. I mustered courage and raised an alarm. Then we decided to give these hackers a chase. Though six of them managed to flee, two were finally nabbed with the help of cops from Kasba police station. This has made us more determined. We have decided, come what may, we will protect our greenery," said Sardar.
Animesh Chakraborty, a cardiologist and a resident of the area who is a member of the ‘save the tree' group, felt it was essential to protect greenery to ward off health hazards.
"If we continue to neglect our duties as protectors of greenery and haplessly watch trees being chopped, a day will come when residents will be prone to heart and lung-related diseases," said Chakraborty.
However, local councillor Baiswanor Chatterjee on Monday assured that he would fully cooperate with the movement of the residents in saving trees of the locality. "When I was informed about the tree hacking, I rushed to the spot and called up cops to investigate the matter. It is indeed a matter of concern how a gang of hackers could chop trees in a densely populated neighbourhood without caring to seek permission from the KMC. We need to know who engaged these hackers. We need to save trees at all cost," said Chatterjee.
According to a KMC parks department source, the matter is being probed by the department officials.
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