Pune: Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has issued a show-cause notice to its garden department chief, Mahesh Gargote, over allegations that officials understated the number and estimated age of 52 trees felled for a developer’s project in Pimpri, potentially reducing the compensation payable to the civic body.The complaint was raised by members of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who claimed that the cumulative estimated age of trees was originally 1,018 years, but a revised report brought it down to just 104 years.Raviraj Kale, state president of AAP’s youth wing, alleged that the garden department had prepared two conflicting reports assessing the trees’ age. “The first report put their cumulative estimated age at 1,018 years. However, another report was subsequently prepared, allegedly under pressure from some corporators or for personal gains to benefit the developer, reducing the cumulative age to 104 years,” he said.Kale claimed that the developer had informed the civic body that he had no space for compensatory plantation and was willing to pay monetary compensation. He said the compensation, calculated at Rs15,000 per year of the trees’ age, would have been around Rs1.5 crore based on the initial report but fell to Rs15.6 lakh after the revised assessment report.The tree authority granted permission to fell the trees in March, and the felling was completed last month, he said. Kale added that he had met with both the additional municipal commissioner and municipal commissioner over the past two to three weeks, seeking an inquiry and action against those responsible.Under Maharashtra (urban areas) Protection and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975, the number of compensatory trees required is linked to the estimated age of the trees felled. Where a developer cannot undertake the plantation and opts for the civic body to do so, a monetary deposit is required under the applicable provisions.The show-cause notice, issued by the civic chief on Oct 27, stated that the complaint alleged the number and age of the trees had been understated, resulting in unauthorised felling, violation of norms, and a significant loss of revenue to the corporation. Gargote has been asked to submit his explanation on the matter.A senior PCMC official told TOI that appropriate action would be initiated after Gargote’s explanation is received and assessed.
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