The Social Forestry Wing of the State Forest Department stopped the illegal cutting of trees at the Irumpanam plant of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
The wing sprang into action on receiving information that trees were being axed down on the campus where lorries used to be parked.
On inspection, it was found that around 50 small trees were cut down. “The company had not obtained the permission of the Tree Committee which considers the applications for cutting down trees located in public places,” said K.J. Martin Lowel, Assistant Conservator of Forest (Social Forestry), Ernakulam.
“If a tree poses risk to the life and property of people, it can be axed after obtaining the permission of the Revenue officials. In all other cases, the application should be submitted to the Tree Committee which will inspect the trees and decide accordingly. In this case, no such applications were received,” he said.
According to the forest official who inspected the site, the company officials maintained that they ordered to trim the branches of trees which obstructed the field of the security cameras.
The department would write to the company informing them about the regulations regarding the cutting of trees and would instruct them to carry out compensatory afforestation, said Mr. Lowel.
An official of the company, who wished not to be quoted, said the trees were cut down on security grounds. “The branches of the trees had spread over the wall and intruders could get into the campus by climbing on them. The visuals of the CCTV cameras were also obscured by the branches. The trees that have been growing precariously close to the wall would also damage the fire protection system,” he said.
After the intervention of the forest officials, the cutting of trees was stopped, he added.
