Vijayawada: Axe continues to fall on trees for Nehru meeting

Vijayawada: More trees have been felled in Christurajapuram for Devineni Rajashekar’s public meeting. This time some of the trees have been completely uprooted.

Despite concerns raised by the environmentalists, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation staff have been going ahead with chopping down more trees on the Christurajapuram main road where the public meeting will be held on September 15 during which Devineni Rajasekhar will join the TD fold.

The role of VMC in the entire issue is being looked at with suspicion. When asked to comment on the trees being axed at Christurajapuram, additional director, horticulture, Pradeep Kumar said they were cutting the trees on instructions given by Chief Minister’s security wing. He said the security personnel raised the issue of obstruction of vision and asked them to remove the trees.  

However, a senior official in the CM’s security, who looks after the security detail, said that no such instructions were given to anyone. He said that the security wing did not receive the programme details pertaining to the venue.

Laxmi Annapurna, who runs an NGO, said, “It is shocking that on one hand the government promotes green cover in the name of Vanam-Manam and on the other, it is cutting down age old trees for a political meeting.”

Do the persons who authorised this know how long it takes for a tree to grow this size, she wondered.