CUT IT, PUT IT TO USE: One of the babla trees chopped to the stump in Salt Lake’s BF block. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Two more trees have been felled in Salt Lake and this time the perpetrator is none other than the local councillor, of the Trinamul Congress.

The councillor of ward 10, Indrani Dutta, defended Wednesday’s felling in BF block on the grounds that the trees were babla and have “no practical use”.

Doesn’t the civic body — like any other organisation or individual — require the forest department’s permission to chop off a tree?

“If it’s babla, a useless tree, the municipality is authorised to chop it off,” shot back the councillor. “Had it been sal or mohua, we would have sought permission from the forest department.”

Dutta’s interpretation of the law, however, did not find any takers in the forest department. “Be it babla or any other tree, one cannot cut it down without our consent. We have not given permission to Salt Lake municipality to fell any tree in its area,” said Majhedar Rahman, the divisional forest officer (utilisation), whose office is the sole authority to allow chopping of trees in Calcutta and the satellite township.

The offenders, according to the law, can be jailed for up to two years and/or fined Rs 5,000.

Dutta offered another reason for cutting the babla trees — “to clear the overgrowth”.

Hasn’t the municipality heard of trimming? It has, but Dutta thinks trimming is “not enough” to fight overgrowth when the municipality is faced with a staff crunch.

“Timely trimming is impossible with so few people for the job. The only option is to chop off a whole tree,” argued Dutta.

The residents of BF block got a taste of Dutta’s logic around 4pm on Wednesday, when they saw a truck ferrying logs from the neighbourhood park.

“The next morning, I found two babla trees in the park cut to the stump,” said an elderly local resident. Another resident fears the trees in front of her house, which is close to the park, will be the next target.

Ashoke Biswas, the additional superintendent of police (Bidhannagar), said no complaint had been lodged about the felling.

Early this month, a private security agency had illegally chopped off a mango and a mahogany tree right in front of divisional forest officer Rahman’s house in BC block. Rahman’s wife was a witness to the ravaging act.