Pune residents and activists are up in arms over an alleged ₹125 crore financial scam involving the Pune Municipal Corporation's Tree Authority, which they claim has also caused an estimated ₹2,000 crore in environmental damage. Calling it more than just mismanagement, they allege it is a blatant violation of environmental laws and are demanding accountability from the authorities.
Advocate Krunnal Gharre filed an RTI, and the documents reveal that ₹125 crore of public money was allegedly mismanaged, with an estimated ₹200 crore loss to the exchequer, besides a massive ₹2,000 crore worth of environmental damage caused to the city.
The core of this issue lies in the alleged fraudulent management of tree felling permissions and compensatory plantations. The RTI documents point out that a deliberate attempt was made to undermine the green cover for undisclosed reasons.
The key allegations are:
Massive Unaccounted Tree Loss: Between April 2022 and December 2023, the Tree Authority permitted the felling/transplantation of 22,362 trees. This came with a mandatory compensatory plantation requirement of 3,40,599 trees. However, the Tree Authority has no records to prove whether these plantations were ever carried out.
Permissions Granted by Circumventing Legal Statutes: Two officers approved the felling/transplantation of 22,362 trees by allegedly bypassing mandatory legal procedures. As per the Tree Act, permissions must specify the site of compensatory plantations. Shockingly, the Tree Authority's records contain no such location details, rendering all these permissions potentially illegal. Based on statutory penalties and Supreme Court directives, the environmental damage may attract fines amounting to over ₹200 crore.
Missing Security Deposits & Unfair Exemptions: Private and other government organisations deposited ₹8.85 crore as security for compensatory plantations. However, PMC departments were arbitrarily exempted from depositing approximately ₹13.4 crore for felling 13,708 trees. There are also no records of the 1,51,444 compensatory plantations required from these PMC departments. Notably, PMC collects 1% of property tax as Tree Tax, which—along with the deposit made at the time of tree cutting approval—is to be used for plantations and maintenance. PMC has no records of this. Considering the total deposit that was to be collected, the revenue generated from timber sale, and the Tree Cess, approximately ₹125 crore of funds are unaccounted for.
Calculated Misrepresentation of Tree Age: Out of 22,362 trees, fewer than 45 were recorded as over 50 years old—a statistically implausible figure for a city like Pune. This strongly suggests a deliberate manipulation to avoid classifying trees as "Heritage Trees," thereby evading stricter permissions and reducing compensatory plantation obligations. This is a direct affront to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975. The fact that the average age of the trees is shown as just 15 years falsely implies that Pune was a barren city before 2010.
Monetary Proceeds from Timber Sale Missing: Of the 8,003 trees cut by PMC, RTI documents reveal that a large portion of the proceeds from the timber sales is missing.
Social activist Chataniya Ket said, “In the 2024–25 financial year, PMC announced a record budget of ₹10,215 crore. With around ₹5,000 crore allocated for capital development (roads, flyovers, public works) and the rest for salaries and maintenance, this budget reflects a city on paper that’s rapidly growing. But let’s apply a simple assumption: if even 20% of this budget is siphoned off through corruption, that amounts to ₹2,000 crore in one year. In just five years, the figure would easily rival, if not exceed, the ₹9,000 crore default. Where’s the outrage?”
“In PMC and many such government systems, the alliance of bureaucrats, politicians, builders, and contractors silently chips away at public wealth. Yet no one runs, no properties are seized, and certainly no arrests are made. These individuals live with respect, wield influence, and often get rewarded with higher posts or public applause. Take Ajit Pawar, for example. Once accused by the opposition of being involved in a ₹70,000 crore irrigation scam, he is now Deputy Chief Minister. The cases have been closed, stayed, or conveniently ignored. Compare this with businessmen like Vijay Mallya, who once inspired a generation to dream big. His ventures failed, yes, but failure in business is not a crime. Systemic failure, however, is a crime. Yet our judiciary, political ecosystem, and society at large have normalised it. Scam is big in the private sector, and you’re a fugitive. Scam is big in the public sector, and you’re a dignitary. Is it justice—or just hypocrisy?” added Ket.
Speaking about the alleged fraud of ₹125 crore, Ashok Ghorpade, Head of the PMC Garden Department, explained, "It’s not a fraud. A lot of development projects are going on in the city, and developers take permission from PMC if any tree is obstructing the development process. We give them the permission, but as per the law, if any tree is chopped, the concerned authorities should ideally plant a number of trees equal to the age of the tree. And if they fail to do so, they have to pay a ₹10,000 fine per tree. So when developers seek permission for tree cutting, we take advance money for the trees, and when they fail to replant, we don’t give the money back. So now PMC has money as fine collection, but it is destroying the green cover. The law should be amended, and the fine should also be increased. The developers are failing to replant trees because there's a shortage of land availability."
