Dept fells 5,000 trees,but refuses to pay a penny as compensation

Divisional Forest Officer Daljit Singh Brar said,“This is a surprise for us,our fully grown trees were chopped which is a damage to the forest cover. We have received no written communication from the drainage department stating that they will not be paying us the compensation amount. Now we will take up the matter with our higher authorities.”

Darshan Singh,Executive Engineer,Drainage Department said,“The trees were chopped off with the permission of DC Rahul Tiwari,so we have no plans to pay money. It was done to prevent floods in the city. No question arises of paying money to the forest department.” Asked whether re-plantation of the chopped trees was done,the drainage department refused to give any details. As per the rules of the forest department,10 saplings need to be grown for every chopped tree. Thus,the drainage department were supposed to plant at least 50,000 saplings.

DC Rahul Tiwari said,“The Forest department has done enough plantation and in the current financial year 3.05 lakh saplings were planted and more will be planted in the coming monsoons. Regarding the payment of money,I will take up the matter with both departments so as to find a solution.”