Noida: The forest department has imposed a Rs 6,000 fine on an educational institute for felling a mature neem tree near the Sector 147 underpass along Noida Expressway to install an advertisement board on a unipole.The fine was imposed on Ram-Eesh Group of Institutes under the Uttar Pradesh Protection of Trees Act, 1976, which regulates the felling, cutting and removal of trees outside reserved or protected forest areas, following complaints by residents of Century Apartment in Sector 100, who claimed that several mature neem trees in the area had been felled without permission.In an Oct 16 report, ‘Mature neem trees cut to clear ad pole view, say residents of Noida Sector 100’, TOI reported that around seven trees, aged 10-12 years, were felled in the past two years and some were damaged while being trimmed.The district forest department later investigated and found that a mature neem tree had been chopped off about three feet above its root. “The department found evidence that a healthy tree had been cut down near an underpass, currently under construction in Sector 147. An investigation revealed that the institution felled the neem tree specifically to make way for its promotional board. Following this, we issued a notice to the institution, summoning its representatives to our office in Sector 1, where a representative of the institution admitted that the tree had been cut down,” district forest officer (DFO) Rajnikant Mittal told TOI.Under the Trees Act, felling or removing regulated timber or fruit trees in the state, including in regions like Noida, requires prior written permission from the competent forest authority. Unauthorised tree felling can lead to imprisonment of up to six months, fines up to Rs 10,000 (or higher penalties or compensatory actions ordered under specific judicial or zonal rules, like Taj Trapezium Zone), along with seizure of timber and equipment. Felling 25 or more trees can lead to a fine of Rs 10,000 per tree, it says.“In this case, one tree was found severely damaged. It was a big, mature and healthy neem tree that was cut up to three feet above the root to install a promotional board. Hence, a compounding fee of Rs 6,000 has been levied on the institute,” Mittal said.
