It rains 'timber' in Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH: Despite stringent regulations by UT not to chop off trees in the city to sustain the much-publicized "green city image", the horticulture department of municipal corporation has been quite liberal in recommending as many requests of different departments and public to the UT adviser to seek his permission.
While hundreds of tress were sacrificed in the past one year, more would be "killed" in the coming days.Claiming they have got the adviser's permission to remove hundreds of trees in different sectors of the city in the days to follow, sub-divisional engineer-2 of the horticulture department Kishan Pal Singh however refused to provide details about the number of trees to be sacrificed in the name of development.
Singh said, "You should ask the executive engineer as he would have the exact data." However, executive engineer Arun Khsar too declined to reveal any information. "The number of trees felled in a year after seeking permission from the adviser cannot be revealed just like that. I would have to depute my entire staff to count that, and would take time," he said.
However, UT conservator of forests-cum-chief wildlife warden and director (environment) Santosh Kumar said, "Trees are chopped only when they hinder the developmental plans. A request is forwarded to the horticulture or the engineering department. The recommendations are then sent to adviser. Same regulations hold true for any person who wishes to get a tree removed from private property. If some tree endangers life, it has to be destroyed."
UT finance-cum-environment secretary V K Singh said, "Not more than 150-200 tress are brought down in a year. Permission of the adviser is always sought. Those trees that obstruct development of roads and buildings are chopped. Those growing on vacant residential plot are too brought down. With this, we grow thousands of trees every year."
Chandigarh's first Indian chief architect M N Sharma said, "It takes a long time for a tree to grow. They shouldn't be chopped just like that. Working on the Chandigarh project in early 1950s, we changed the course of a road just to avoid removal of a tree."