Kolkata, March 21 -- The residents of Ashutosh Mukherjee Road in Bhowanipore with the assistance of local councillor on Thursday afternoon thwarted the attempt of felling a full-grown mango tree in which buds had already started blossoming. According to old timers in the area, the tree is over 80-years-old.

"I received a phone call from local people that a full-grown tree is being pulled down. I immediately informed the Bhowanipore Police Station but the persons who were involved in cutting the tree managed to flee. I have made it clear to the police that felling of tree without permission from the KMC or from the Forest department is illegal and a criminal offence and those involved in such act should be punished as per legal provisions," councillor of Ward 70, Ashim Basu, who is also Member-Mayor-In-Council of the KMC said.

Basu, who rushed to the spot, said that the residents had named four persons who had assigned the task for felling the tree keeping the administration in the dark. "We had initially thought that the tree was being trimmed by the Parks and Square department of the KMC, but later we found that it was actually an attempt to hack the entire tree. In fact a major portion of the tree has already been hacked," a local resident said.

howanipore had witnessed uprooting of many trees during the severe cyclonic storm Amphan that had hit the state in May 2020. Since then, KMC had taken up augmentation of the green cover in the city to the best extent possible and at the same prodded by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has laid emphasis on conservation of trees. Mayor Firhad Hakim has time and again said that trees are responsible for supplying fresh oxygen and if we want our next generation not to suffer from COPD, we will not resort to tree felling and stress on conservation of trees.

Basu appealed to the residents to be vigilant against further attempts of pulling down trees and inform him and the local police whenever they come across any such case. He called up the Parks and Square department to pull down the rope tied to the tree which was used for climbing up.

"I have asked the police to take action against the offenders and if they do not act suo motu, I am ready to lodge a formal complaint. The way they have resorted to chopping down a tree is no less than an act of murder," Basu said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.