Pune: Residents have demanded a moratorium on tree felling for infrastructure projects across the city after at least seven young trees, including native species, were reportedly cut or uprooted between Lane 7 of North Main Road in Koregaon Park and Aga Khan Bridge for underground electrical cable work recently.These trees, residents said, were part of a community plantation drive undertaken in 2024 after Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) felled 81 mature trees along the same stretch.After around two years, the trees had finally begun flourishing after sustained efforts to water and maintain them. Residents alleged that the recent removal took place without adequate information being shared with citizens about the reasons for the action or permissions obtained.Carolyn Irani, a Naylor Road resident, said residents had struggled to ensure the young trees received regular watering and care. “We got authorities to plant these trees with great difficulty, because infrastructure for watering and maintaining them was lacking. We had to follow up for years to ensure the trees were watered. They had just started growing well and developing a canopy when they were removed. They could have been shifted slightly, forward or behind, and saved,” she said.Irani added, “At least seven trees have been removed, each 20-30ft tall. The chowk has become so hot that you cannot even wait there on a bike now. It is not easy to grow a tree, and it is frustrating to see them axed after all the effort to nurture them.”The latest incident revived concerns over loss of greenery along the stretch. On Dec 14, 2023, after PMC felled 81 mature trees here during road-widening work, residents said the civic body subsequently transplanted 56 trees, cut to about 5ft, far away in Hadapsar Industrial Estate.None of the transplanted trees survived, informed Vijaya Suratkal, a resident involved in the plantation drive in Koregaon Park, citing inadequate transplantation methods and aftercare by authorities. “After the road-widening was done in 2024, we approached the PMC road department to restore roadside greenery. They agreed to collaborate with us, following which residents and civic officials planted around 50 native trees, including banyan, peepal, jamun and bael on April 21, 2024,” she said.Residents said they had insisted on planting trees taller than 10ft and estimated that around 95% of the plantation survived. They also reported bird nesting in some of the young banyan trees in recent weeks.Suratkal also said the loss of mature trees could not be offset by planting small saplings. “A sapling or a 4ft plant cannot replicate the ecological services, carbon sequestration and canopy cover provided by a fully grown, mature tree,” she said, adding that transplantation had repeatedly failed in Pune and that compensatory plantation, as currently practised, did not adequately address the ecological loss.Hema Chari, another local resident, called for a citywide moratorium on tree felling and uprooting for infrastructure projects. “Such a stay is needed until the civic administration reviews the scale of tree loss and puts a strategy in place to protect existing greenery,” she said.An official from the Dhole Patil Road ward office, when contacted, said he was not aware of the recent tree removal and that his office had not granted permission for the felling. Choosing anonymity, he said, “After citizens’ complaints came to us on this matter, a horticulture staff member has been sent to the site to investigate the matter, including the number of trees removed and the reasons for their removal. The issue will be examined and further details will be available after the inquiry. We are seeking clarity on whether any other civic authority granted permission for the removal and why the trees could not have been protected or relocated.”
