Hyderabad: Century-old trees axed, locals furious

Hyderabad: Amost after 100 years four tamarind trees were axed down at Manikeswar Nagar, Amberpet on Wednesday night, while the locals opposed chopping of trees and spoiling the green cover.

"Without any permission from the forest department and tree protection committee , some unidentified people chopped down the trees illegally. When we asked them about the reason they said that the trees have been chopped to clear the place for a petrol pump. Due to this lapse, four full-grown trees which were at least 100-years-old breathed their last. We don't want the rest of trees to be chopped," stated Mohammad Ilyas , resident of Manikeswar Nagar.

Zakir, another resident of Manikeswar Nagar, pointed out, "As the tree cover in the city has already been depleted due to road and infrastructure projects and continuous axing is increasing both air and sound pollution. As already in this area there are two petrol pump and we don't think we need one more. It would be better if without chopping down tree they could translocate the trees. After this act we have also submitted a written plea to the forest department regarding this issue."

"We are not going to let go of this fight as the green cover is essential for this area. Every time for projects the government spoils the green cover.In the year 2019, locals were able to protect the tree from getting chopped but this time we failed and we don't don't want rest of the trees to be chopped out," said Syed Khaled Shah, social activist .