80 trees cut in a year, no agency to monitor new plantations

In spite of the uproar last September over the cutting of over 20 trees on the premises of the erstwhile Civil Surgeon’s Office in Jalandhar, the chopping of trees in various parts of the district has continued unabated. Even when tree removal is approved by various departments, there is a significant lack of monitoring to ensure that trees are planted in place of those cut down.

While the felling of over 20 trees at the civil hospital last year was authorised, 20 more trees have been cut at the Gandhi Vanita Ashram site in recent days. Both these sites were granted approval for uprooting of trees, but numerous other unapproved tree-cutting incidents have occurred through the year.

In the past year, around 70 to 80 trees have been axed or lopped across various sites in the district. Among the significant cases, besides the 20 trees at the civil hospital, 10 trees were cut at the P&T Colony in Jalandhar (which led to a complaint), and 33 trees were axed or lopped in the Urban Estate area. These numbers only account for tree removals within the city limits and exclude the many trees felled for road construction, housing projects, and other government developments.

In the context of worsening air quality in Jalandhar—where the Air Quality Index (AQI) has reached hazardous levels several times in the past year—along with depleting groundwater levels and rampant deforestation, the continued removal of trees from new sites has failed to attract meaningful action.

While the forest department monitors trees felled on forest land, it is the responsibility of the respective departments to track tree removal within city limits.

Activist Tejaswi Minhas, who has filed multiple complaints with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) regarding illegal tree cutting in Jalandhar, states, “At least one tree was cut illegally on the site of the Gandhi Vanita Ashram which we reviewed this morning. In the civil hospital too, several such trees were cut illegally. Contractors chop trees in parking and open areas as well on a given site. Even when approved, it is unnecessary to do so as cars are scorched in the summers in treeless parking areas and need shade. People are not aware of the huge monetary value of living trees—some of the recently chopped ones (especially at the civil hospital) had a huge girth of 450 to 600 cm—hundreds of years of nature’s work. The city’s lungs are being depleted every year. Plus, these trees are sold away at almost throwaway prices even though in the market, their furniture cost goes into lakhs. So the trees which are being treated as a liability during construction have value as oxygen generators when alive and are hugely overpriced as furniture commodities. Our prime objections are towards the criminal neglect of these trees as the lungs of the city and the role they play in cleansing air and water. Heritage trees must be considered sacrosanct. Sustainable ways to build are also essential, and without that, our future will be dark and airless.”

Minhas added, “There is a marginal increase in awareness, in response to complaints made to the NGT, the state Principal Secretary devised a new policy on deforestation—which is a welcome step—although it too needs amends. In one of the tree axing cases, an FIR was also registered on our complaint, which we appreciate—even though the accused is out on bail now.”

Divisional Forest Officer, Jarnail Singh said, “We do not keep track of trees in non-forest areas. However, the new state policy devised in the past 2-3 months calls for planting 5 times the trees felled in any given area to maintain tree cover.”

MC Commissioner, Jalandhar, Gautam Jain said, “Technically, there is no officer dedicated to maintaining tree count or keeping track of the substitute trees planted. While this is usually under the ambit of the horticulture department—in which too, we have officials only on additional charge in Jalandhar. But in cases of complaints or special cases, I could nominate an officer or constitute a committee to look into it.”