Felling of trees on Gandipet road begins

Plea to allow translocation of decades-old trees ignored

Everyone has their priorities. Even as COVID second wave is rampaging across the fear stricken population, the Roads & Buildings department has thought it fit to complete the road widening work at Gandipet by chopping giant decades-old trees, ignoring a pending request from a voluntary body to freely translocate them, on Monday. “Absolutely devastated to see the trees being chopped after I had appealed to the department to give me time till the first monsoon showers to shift the trees as the climate is not suitable for the translocation. But they seem to be a in hurry to get the hack job done,” bemoaned Vata Foundation trustee P. Uday Krishna. There are some 286 trees on either side of the road and the Tree Protection Committee (TPC) has “permitted” cutting 244 trees and allowed 42 trees for translocation! In a letter submitted to the chief engineer concerned, the Founder-Trustee has appealed to allow his organisation to save the trees except for eucalyptus and subabul variety and pointed out that as many as 2,000 trees have been successfully translocated after they were marked for felling in the last few years.