Forest Dept unclear on felling dried-up trees

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News service

Bathinda, December 8

Dried-up and dead trees may be posing a danger to the life and property of the residents, but the hands of the Forest Department are tied by the directive of the National Green Tribunal.

Although there are a large number of such trees in the district and several incidents have been reported wherein such trees got uprooted and fell suddenly, unable to withstand heavy rain or storm, the department is waiting for a word from the NGT about what is to be done with such trees.

“The NGT had issued a ban on cutting and felling of trees on May 19, 2016. It is still not clear whether the tribunal was referring to only the green trees or the dried up trees as well. Till the time the guideline is not clear, we cannot axe down any such tree,” said DFO Harbhajan Singh.

Elaborating on the procedure followed by the Forest Department to cut such trees, Singh said, “Our field staff maintain a record of the trees, which have dried up and pose a danger to the traffic as well as precious lives. After a substantial number of such trees are identified, counted and numbered, the list is sent to the Forest Development Corporation. An online auction is then held and the successful bidder is given the responsibility of axing such trees and taking possession of the timber,” Singh said.

In an unfortunate turn of events on March 30, 2015, 35-year-old Punjab Police gunman Tejpal Singh, deployed with SSP Sukhdev Chahal, had lost his life as two dried up trees had fallen on the vehicle in which he was sitting.

The driver of the vehicle and the SSP, who was sitting on the back seat, had a narrow escape.

Such trees, standing adjacent to the roads, railway lines and other pieces of land pose a danger as these places are frequented by people.

In the past, the department has had to deal with cases of thefts of such trees by anti-social elements either for selling the wood in the market or for domestic use of the timber.