Tree cut to make way for CM's convoy?

HYDERABAD: Was a huge old banyan tree on Karkhana main road almost axed on Tuesday to clear the way for chief minister K Rosaiah’s convoy? The roads
and buildings department brought down a leafy banyan, which sources say was to give a clear passage to the chief minister who is expected to pass by this route to attend the inauguration of a Kalyana Mandapam near Hakimpet Air Force Station Compound on Wednesday.

The tree-felling was stopped when the residents of the area started inquiring why the banyan was being cut and started contacting this newspaper to complain about the same. With forest officials reaching the spot and the R&B department getting alerted, the tree-felling, which was meant to continue all night, was stopped. However, almost half the tree was mutilated.

While sources said the green murder was to make way for the CM’s convoy, which is expected to pass by this stretch twice on Wednesday, officials denied the same.

While the tree-cutting was proposed months ago, the authorities had gone slow on it till the CM announced his plan to pass by this route.

“The CM is scheduled to pass through the road. The tree was coming in the way of our repairing the road,” an R&B official told TOI. However, senior officials of the department said this was not so and that the tree-felling exercise was “routine” for which they had even taken permission from the forest department in 2008. “This is a routine exercise and we will relocate the tree if possible,” said Sudarshan Reddy, executive engineer, R&B, who maintained that the CM taking this route had nothing to do with this decision.

Meanwhile, officials of R&B, Karkhana police and even the forest department ganged up against the tree and said it was “half dead’’, termite-infested and could fall on its own if not removed. “The tree was old and obstructing the way. It could fall any time and that is why it was removed,” said Subhash Babu, Karkhana police inspector. However, citizens who saw the tree being axed disagreed. “The tree was very green and had new shoots springing up. The claim that it is termite-infested and half dead is far from the truth,” said Ramesh Kodambi, a businessman who was present at the site.

Green lovers also asked how a tree which is in the corner of the road and leaning towards the police station would disrupt the passage of the CM’s convoy.

According to another resident of the Karkhana area, tree-felling has been rampant in this area for long. “This tree has been around for a long time and it is a shame that it was cut down. It was not blocking the road,” said Suresh Kochattil, a concerned denizen.

The forest department had revoked all tree-felling permissions last year in response to the green movement catalysed by The Times of India. Tree-felling, it had said, would be permitted only if there was no other alternative and only after translocation as an option had been considered.