Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has found lapses in enforcement of its own rules as trees were illegally felled on Friday morning, inside Rasala Park, where the civic body’s garden department has its main office.The incident came to light after a video showing tree cutting at the park in the Law Garden area went viral on social media. Ellisbridge MLA Amit Shah subsequently complained to the garden department, alleging that healthy trees were being cut without any apparent justification.Following the complaint, garden department officials found that trees had been felled without the required permission. A show cause notice was subsequently issued to the garden supervisor for alleged negligence of duty.The incident has come at a time when the AMC is aggressively promoting its “Mission Five Million Trees” campaign to plant 50 lakh trees across the city during the monsoon. The illegal felling inside the premises of the very department responsible for protecting and maintaining the city’s green cover has therefore drawn particular attention.Garden department director A C Patel confirmed that the tree was cut illegally and said a notice had been served on the supervisor.An AMC official, however, said Rasala Park is under the zoo department. According to the official, zoo department employees had cut down a tree after receiving complaints that it had become hollow and posed a safety hazard. They did so without obtaining the mandatory approval from the competent authority, making the felling illegal, he added.“Cutting trees without approval is illegal. The matter has been taken seriously and strict action will be taken against those responsible,” the official said.While the video appeared to show several trees being cut, AMC officials maintained that only one tree was felled and the others were merely trimmed.
