Trees pruned to mend visibility of sky signs

Pune: Residents from several areas in Pimpri Chinchwad as well as members of the NGO Angolichigoli have raised an alarm over the illegal chopping of branches and canopies of several trees all over the area.
The residents claimed that trees in front of sky signs and hoardings were often pruned illegally to ensure visibility. According to tree lover Tanay Patekar, several trees that have been trimmed recently were also cut in a similar fashion early last year.“Last year, we had raised complaints about canopies of several trees being chopped off in Pimple Saudagar, Wakad, Hinjewadi, and other areas of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) limits. The trees grew again over two monsoons. We recently noticed that several of those trees have been chopped again so that the billboards located behind them are visible. Despite several e-mails to authorities, no firm action has been taken,” he stated.
Madhav Patil, a member of NGO Angolichigoli, said, “Tree lovers have often raised this issue to no avail. On some occasions, the PCMC personnel ask us for details about the persons chopping the trees to take action. Isn’t it their job to find out who is responsible and take action? We have already approached the civic administration. We are also going to meet the police authorities to seek action against those involved in the illegal chopping.”
Prakash Gaikwad from PCMC’s tree authority said, “We have come across 40 trees that were chopped off recently and we conducted panchnama on Tuesday followed by filing of cases against the owners of the hoardings. There are eight locations where we could not identify the owner of the hoarding and we have sought details from the sky sign department so that we can send them notices.”
Another official from the civic body said that despite seeking suspension of license of advertising agencies that are engaged in such illegal chopping of trees, no action is taken.