Market value Rs 1 lakh, UT priced a tree at Rs 30,000
Environmentalists have said that eucalyptus trees make the city greener in a big way, but the officers have said that they would now be phasing out eucalyptus trees.
3 min read
Sources said the decision to pull down the trees was so hurried that it was taken overnight. (Express) Even though the market value of a single eucalyptus tree is well over Rs 1 lakh, the horticulture wing of the Chandigarh Administration hurriedly fixed the amount at around Rs 30,000 per tree, in an effort to “enhance safety for officials” and pull down 100 trees outside the UT Secretariat, Sector 9, Chandigarh. One eucalyptus tree measuring over 210 cm in girth would fetch anything over a lakh in the market, which is over four times the pricing the horticulture wing has settled for – anywhere between Rs 28,000 to Rs 30,000 (on rate contract basis price of Rs 22,000 + 32 per cent).
A rate contract is an agreement between the supplier and the purchaser to sell the said item at a fixed unit price. Around 100 healthy eucalyptus trees were given away on rate contract basis at throwaway prices.
Environmentalists across the city have brought attention to the fact that these trees are more than 50 years old and “have good market value”, which is being blatantly ignored by the administration.
Rahul Mahajan, a horticulturist, told The Indian Express, “It is a big scandal. Proper tendering process should have been done and moreover, those in the horticulture wing are not even qualified engineers. Giving lush eucalyptus trees for such meager amounts is unjustified. Its wood sells for lakhs. I wonder if they even measured as to how many quintals of wood or log are being derived from one eucalyptus tree. Why do they not bring out these facts before the general public?”
When a query was put forth to the Executive Engineer, Horticulture, Jangsher Singh, about the rate contract basis for these trees, he said, “I don’t know anything about the rates”. Despite being in the committee of officials, Jangsher said, “Kindly speak to SE Horticulture”.
When asked for a comment, Superintending Engineer, Horticulture, Krishan Pal Singh, said that “He was at the Rose Festival and the speech of the Governor was going on”, after which he did not respond to calls.
Sources said the decision to pull down the trees was so hurried that it was taken overnight.
Environmentalists have said that eucalyptus trees make the city greener in a big way, but the officers have said that they would now be phasing out eucalyptus trees. “There are about 15,000 such trees. If they pull down eucalyptus trees from Sector 17, it will just look bare without any shade,” Mahajan added.
Sector 9 residents who stay right opposite the police headquarters or the UT Secretariat said they were shocked as they thought only pruning was going on. “I live right opposite the police headquarters in Sector 9 and when I open the front door now, instead of seeing greenery, I see the bare sky. Their plea is that the trees were dying but that’s not true. There was only one tree that was dry and all others were healthy. One can figure out by seeing the trunk. This has been done only for the timber,” a resident said requesting anonymity.
You May Like
Photos
