Case still in court,tree once saved by alert citizens chopped off

Divisional Forest Officer Nagesh Guleria said: “When the staff went there in the morning,the landlord showed them the formal permission from the government to cut the tree. Since they were not aware that the permission had been challenged in the High Court,they returned. But in the evening,when we got information about the status of the case,the staff went there again but by that time the tree had been cut. The wood has been seized.”

Guleria said appropriate action would be taken after going through the status of the case. Owner of the plot Ajay Jangi said: “The court had not stayed the matter and whatever we have done is not illegal. We had valid permission. We proceeded to cut the tree as the 180 days’ validity period for the permission was about to lapse.”

On October 9 2010,alert residents of Aira Holme locality on the Strawberry Hill,in Chotta Shimla,had resisted chopping of the tree. They had approached Chief Justice Kurian Joseph,who acted promptly by sending the High Court’s Registrar (Judicial) to the spot within an hour to examine the situation. This helped the citizens save the tree,from which three different trees were branching out,for the time being.

This was followed by a formal petition by environmentalist B S Malhans and resident of Aira Holme in the High Court to challenge the government’s permission to fell the “green tree”.

The reason quoted by the plot owner for permission to cut the tree was that it was posing danger to nearby houses. However,the petitioners had challenged the ground and termed it a false pretext.

The forest department has already replied to the court notice served in November 2010.