PCMC To Issue Show Cause Notice To Contractor

PUNE: The contractor responsible for cutting down trees and shrubs on the Pune-Mumbai highway near Alfa Laval in Kasarwadi will be served a show cause notice by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Monday.
“Shrubs and small trees planted by the garden department to beautify the Pune-Mumbai highway have been cut without permission,” said Suresh Salunke, chief of the PCMC’s garden department. “The show cause notice will be issued to the contractor after PCMC offices open on Monday.”
According to Salunke, “The contractor has removed a 30 m-long road divider between the service road and the concrete lanes of the Pune-Mumbai highway, near Alfa Laval. It was removed to create a new exit point for vehicles on the concrete lanes to access the service road since the construction of a flyover at Nashik Phata is in progress. The contractor should have taken the permission of the garden department and the tree authority before cutting down the trees and plants. He was told to take permission regarding this but he still went ahead and cut them down.
“Action will be taken against the contractor under provisions of the Maharashtra Urban Areas Tree Act 1975,” said Salunke. “A fine of Rs 5,000 can be imposed on the violator and a case can also be lodged against him.”
Nandkumar Saturdekar, former member of the PCMC’s Tree Authority stressed the need for maintaining the green cover of the township. “The trees and greenery in the industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad needs to be protected to withstand the effects of rapid urbanisation like pollution.”