November 19 House-owners who chop trees in trouble
FROM TUESDAY onwards, forest department officials will start serving notices at the doorsteps of residents who have cut green trees shadowing their swanky houses without taking permission from the department, in colonies such as DLF city, Sushant LOk, South city and other HUDA sectors.
According to forest department officials, Section 4 of Punjb Land Preservation Act 1900 is applicable in Gurgaon. The act bars people from cutting trees even on their own private land without the permission of the Haryana forest Department. Violators could be prosecuted under section 33 of India Forest Act and be tried in the Environment court, Faridabad, said the district forest officer (DFO) Rambir Singh.
In an unprecedented move, the Haryana Forest Department has decided to act on a list of defaulters prepared and provided by an environment friendly youth of Sushant Lok. Vivek Kamboj(35)who runs NGO Haryali, and his friends had gone door to door in various colonies and has prepared a list of all those who have either chopped off trees completely or have pruned them to a mere trunk.
“Aghast over the widespread cutting of green trees from in front of their houses as these shadowed their beautifully built houses and diminished their market value, I decided to move the forest department and get the penal action initiated against all those,” Vivek said.
He claimed thousands of Gurgaon residents, especially in posh colonies, have eliminated a large under of green and grownup trees planted just outside their houses, “There are thousands of instances where there are no traces left of existence of trees,” he added.
After receiving the list of defaulters from Vivek, range officers of the forest department went door to door to confirm the violations. “We were shocked to see many educated and intellectual residents had either eliminated trees or removed the leaves completely. We are going to take legal action against these defaulters and serve them notices under section 33 (1) of Indian Forest Act 1927 from Tuesday onward to summon them to our office to let them explain their misdeed,” the forest official said.
The residents have either got the trees chopped from professionals or have injected acids in the roots of mature trees to leave them to die slowly, Vivek said.
