Hyderabad: Residents of BHEL Colony on Tuesday called out the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) for allegedly felling a tree negligently.
Sai Koushik A., a resident of the area, said that when he initially questioned workers, he was informed that they had obtained the necessary permissions to fell a tree. However, he later found out that they only had permission to trim branches to resolve a wire-dangling issue, but it was too late by the time he could do anything about it.
Upon contacting the authorities, he was directed to send a detailed report to the local assistant divisional engineer of RC Puram.
“It's too late now. Will I get the trees back to life? It takes years for trees to grow full enough to give us shade, good oxygen and cleaner environment, but they (negligent officials) destroy it all in a few minutes,” he said.
While the workers were claiming to have done what they were instructed to do, activists called for responsibility to be fixed on officials responsible.
“Criminal cases must be booked against AEs as they should’ve been present when trimmings are going on. Workers have to be provided with safety gear and a bucket crane. None of these were in place. All they did was send coolies from some adda to do this work,” an activist said.
Residents and activists also called on R.M. Dobriyal, the principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), to take swift action against the negligent officials concerned.
