Kolkata Municipal Corporation stops felling of tree on private plot near Golpark
Telegraph | 21 March 2025
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Wednesday stopped the felling of a tree on a private plot on Kankulia Road near Golpark that was being cleared for construction of a new building.
The neem tree has stood on the plot for decades. A neighbour alerted the civic body about the hacking.
A senior civic official told Metro that the plot developer or the owner did not take permission to fell the tree.
“We have lodged a complaint with police that the tree was being chopped without permission,” the official said.
A resident of the area said that a debdaru tree had been felled on Wednesday morning.
The men working at the site had chopped off all branches and leaves of the neem tree and were preparing to cut the trunk when a resident protested and alerted the KMC.
“A pomelo tree, which also stood on the plot, was felled about two months back,” said the resident.
A two-storey residential building stood on the plot till about a year ago. It was pulled down and the construction of a new building began.
The KMC official said when their team reached the site, the branches of the neem had been chopped off. The KMC team asked the men to stop hacking the tree.
“We informed the police to ensure that the tree is not hacked further,” said the official.
Many plots have trees in such positions that they need to be felled to allow the construction of a building, sources in the civic body said.
The owner or the developer of the plot with the tree must apply to the KMC and the forest department for permission to fell the tree. If the authorities see that construction of a new building is not possible without felling the tree, permission is granted.
A forest department rule stipulates that at least five saplings have to be planted for every tree felled.
“The forest department provides a detailed plan of what kind of trees to plant and how,” said the KMC official.
Officials of the state forest department and the KMC met in January to plug gaps in the process that allowed unscrupulous owners or developers to avoid planting the desired number of saplings.