Felling of five green Gulmohar trees (Delonix regia) on Park Gate Road near the Nehru stadium on Saturday triggered protests from an environmentalist, who alleged that the trees were being cut down in violation of the Government norms.
The trees were felled by contractors for road expansion.
R. Mohammed Saleem, President of the Environment Conservation Group (ECG), said that the contractor told him that he had obtained the requisite permission. However, the permission notice allegedly did not allow cutting of trees on Park Gate Road and permitted only felling trees at Nanjappa Road where the Gandhipuram Bridge was under construction.
The activist took up the issue with Revenue Department officials, whose permission was required for felling trees.
Revenue Inspector S. Uma Maheswari told Mr. Saleem that the Revenue Department had not accorded permission to cut trees on Park Gate Road. She said that action would be taken against the contractor if he was found to have violated the permission given to him. Mr. Saleem told The Hindu that while the environmentalists were not against development, it must not come at the cost of nature.
