Udhagamandalam: The green cover is fast shrinking in Ooty with the people indiscriminately felling trees in the name of mitigating monsoon calamities.
More than 600 trees were uprooted in Ooty in the heavy rain 10 days ago. In addition, several trees that were posing danger to people were also cut off, as part of monsoon preparedness. According to activists, trees that are not posing any danger are also being felled, taking monsoon as a cover.
K Kumar Selvam, an activist, said, “Getting permission to cut trees, even the ones posing threat to houses, was so difficult earlier. Now, many trees, which are not posing any danger, on private lands are being felled in the name of monsoon preparedness. We don’t know for sure if such trees are being felled with permission. This trend is rampant in Ooty town.”
Another activist, S Deepak, said the rain situation was taken for granted for cutting trees. “Trees are indiscriminately being felled in places such as Finger Post, Fernhill, St Mary’s Hill, Missionary Hill, and Spencer’s Road. Trees that are not posing any danger are being felled, while those posing a threat are being left intact in some places.”
When TOI approached Ooty tahsildar Saravanakumar for an inspection of the areas, where permissions were granted for clearing the trees that were uprooted in the rain, he said, “We will instruct the village administrative officers concerned to inspect their areas for illegal felling of trees.”
When contacted, Harish, village administrative officer, said he had inspected the Missionary Hill area, where four trees were illegally felled while permission was issued only to clear three uprooted trees. “We will take appropriate action against the erring people.”
Pointing out that a site inspection was mandatory after felling trees, activists said the revenue department was lethargic. They said the trees posing danger should be identified before each monsoon season and precautionary measures taken in advance.
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