Dead trees pose threat in Shimla amid snowfall

Tribune News Service

Navneet Rathore

Shimla, February 5

Despite several dry and dangerous trees posing a threat to life and property of residents in the town, the lackadaisical approach in dealing with the issue is giving sleepless nights to people.

With several applications, seeking the removal of dry and dead tress and green ones which are under threat of getting uprooted, pending with the MC, the Tree Authority committee has not held a meeting for the last four months. It is the Tree Authority committee, headed by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), which takes the final call on the genuineness of the plea by residents.

Applications for around 2,000 dry and dangerous trees have been received by the Tree Authority Committee of Shimla Municipal Corporation. DFO, Shimla (Urban), Pawan Chauhan said the unprecedented rainfall during the monsoon created a panic situation in the town and people in large numbers started filing applications for cutting and lopping of trees. He said, however, several environmentalists moved the High Court due to which an action on residents’ application was delayed.

Even as the Forest department is burdened with the task of removing Deodar trees which fell during the unprecedented rains last monsoon, the fear of the residents is not unfounded as there will be snow and rain for the next two months.

The councillors in the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) have been raising the issue from time to time but the tardy process of getting nod from the Tree Authority committee remains a major impediment.

There have been several instances where people have tried to get a green healthy tree removed from their land claiming that it posed a threat to their property. As such the government has constituted the Tree Authority committee to examine and scrutinise each and every case to check the genuineness and veracity of

the claim.

The town has hundreds of dry and dangerous trees that need to be axed and lopped in order to ensure that no further damage is done to the people and property, both private and public. Recently, during the Mayor’s visit to New Shimla ward, the locals had demanded lopping of dangerous and dry trees before snowfall so as to avert any untoward incident.

The matter is also being raised in every meeting of the SMC house. During the recent monthly meeting of the Corporation, Rudlu Bhata Councillor Saroj Thakur complained that the pending applications are not getting clearance from the Forest Department. Also several development projects are stalled for want of clearance of the dry and dead trees. During the meeting, Councillors also alleged that the Forest Department officials are not even giving them a satisfactory reason for the delay.

Mayor Surinder Chauhan, while talking to The Tribune, said the SMC is not directly involved in this matter as trees in the town are under the Forest Department and the SMC only has a Tree Authority committee. The final nod for tree removal and felling is given by this committee.

“If we have to take permission for lopping or cutting a tree, the Tree Authority committee visits the area and send the status of the tree to the government which is then checked by the sub-committee of the government. It is a very lengthy process,” the Mayor explained.

Shimla on Thursday received the first spell of snow of the season after witnessing one of the driest January in over a century. As per the Meteorological Centre, snowfall is very likely to occur in Shimla over next two days.

The town witnessed great losses during the incessant rainfall that occurred last year during the monsoon season. Around 1,000 Deodar trees were uprooted in Shimla during the disaster triggered by torrent rains in July-August 2023.

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