Forest dept’s tough act upsets MC bosses

Ludhiana: A day after the forest department removed concrete structures around trees along Sidhwan Canal water front in Sarabha Nagar following directions of a court, mayor Balkar Sandhu and MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal visited the area on Thursday. They claimed that they were not against compliance of court orders, but the forest department could have informed and involved the MC in the drive.
The MC chief claimed that they are taking legal opinion in this case on whether they can take any action against the forest department’s handling of dismantling exercise. This project had been developed at a cost of Rs 4.75 crore under the Smart City Mission.
The action has been taken in the ongoing execution application forwarded by National Green Tribunal to the district court in regard to removal of concrete structure around trees. The court had asked the divisional forest officer to identify trees in the entire city. Former chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust Raman Balasubramanium had also requested the court for depute the DFO to identify such trees. An engineer Kapil Dev had filed a petition in the NGT about damage to trees by the Ludhiana municipal corporation, Ludhiana Improvement Trust and Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada). The NGT had forwarded the case to a local court.
MC commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said they are not against removal of concrete around trees, but this should have been done in their presence. He said he has asked the legal cell to explore the possibility. On the other hand, district forest officer Harbhajan Singh said they have taken action as per court orders and they are getting it done in entire city in their jurisdiction area.
The forest department had also issued a letter to National Highways Authority of India to start implementing the court orders and removing concrete around trees. The NHAI has also started taking steps.
Meanwhile, city residents seemed divided over the issue as some condemned the move while some said MC should have followed norms before developing anything.
A resident of Sarabha Nagar Rahul Verma said the court orders could have been implemented properly as the walking track too has been damaged badly. He said MC officials could have been involved in the drive. Activist Kuldeep Khaira said, “First of all, it should be checked whether MC officials had taken permission from the forest department before developing anything at this place. And if permission was not taken, then action should be taken against the officers.”