Six 20-yr-old trees cut down at Mursaoli Maran Park

Chennai: At least six trees, each of them nearly 20 years old, were cut on the eight-acre Murasoli Maran Park in Perambur in the early hours of Saturday. Their canopies were removed, leaving just the bare trunks. Those responsible for this are yet to be identified.Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials said they were unaware of the issue. "The branches must have been cut at night to set up political banners," said GCC parks overseer, Venkataraju. There is a camera on the road outside the park, maintained by the city police, which will have footage of the trees being cut. "We do not know who did it, but the matter will be looked into. The watchman could have been sleeping that night. The park is usually maintained by a private contractor. His contract term has ended," he said.According to the District Green Committee (DGC) rules, no tree in public spaces can be cut or lobbed without approval. "These trees were cut without DGC's permission. I asked GCC to find out who cut the trees so unscientifically. The minimum penalty for lobbing or cutting trees is 25,000. It can be increased based on the tree's age and ecological value," said DGC member T D Babu. It would be difficult to revive the trees as they mindlessly cut them.This park has been chosen to set up a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) park with telescopes and space equipment models for 5.54 crore. GCC called for tenders to set up the park this month, and the work will begin after the northeast monsoon. Perambur neighbourhood development forum convenor Raghukumar C said trees in the park used to give shade to Paper Mills Road and Tank Link Road in Perambur.
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