In a concerning environmental violation, lawkeepers themselves turned into lawbreakers. 35 mature green trees were chopped at the Pune Railway Police Headquarters in Khadki without obtaining the necessary permissions from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and sold illegally in January this year. This incident came to light when PMC officials conducted an inspection on January 29 to verify reports of illegal tree cutting after a complaint was made by Suresh Vishwanath Shelar, who works as a tailor at the headquarters.
Initially, according to the PMC report, 32 trees had been cut down in January. However, during the on-site inspection, the officials discovered that the actual number of trees felled was 35. The inspection was prompted by allegations that the trees were cut under the observation of police personnel, bypassing the mandatory approval from the tree officer of the PMC.
The civic body is currently conducting a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the unauthorised removal of these trees and to hold accountable those responsible for this breach of environmental laws.
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Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Shelar said, “On January 12, when I visited the headquarters premises, I found that several trees had been axed by a machine cutter and the wooden blocks were being loaded onto a vehicle to be sold in the market. The roots of the trees had been set on fire to destroy the evidence. We asked the responsible police personnel about the permission from PMC. He responded that they had taken permission to cut extra branches. However, the whole tree was being cut down. Taking advantage, the whole scam had been done."
"Apart from trees, iron scrap material and doors totally worth around ₹1.5 crore have been sold. We have consistently informed the senior police officials and PMC for the last six months but still no action has been taken against the responsible person. If one or two trees are cut by any common person, the PMC will impose a heavy fine on them and take strict action. Meanwhile, if such kind of corruption is done by police, why are the officials not responding?" added Shelar.
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Superintendent Tushar Joshi, Pune Railway Police Headquarters, Khadki, told this newspaper that he was not aware of any such incident. “PMC has not given any notice to us and I am not aware of such an incident. Nothing has happened yet. In my view, nothing has come to light about cutting trees on the premises," he said.
Meanwhile, Anil Sable, Tree Inspector, PMC, stated that they have given notice twice. "We have given notice to the police officials twice but have not received a satisfactory answer yet. This is a serious matter of illegally cutting trees. In the next 15 days, we will approach the PMC court regarding the matter."
