The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has started trimming trees to make space for Puja hoardings, but residents and experts in several neighbourhoods say that only the roadside branches are being cut, which is disturbing their natural balance.

Metro spotted trimming work underway last week along Jatindra Mohan Avenue, Rashbehari Avenue and Raja SC Mullick Road.

In all these locations, only the branches projecting towards the street had been chopped off. Branches growing over pavements or towards adjacent buildings were left untouched. This selective trimming can distort a tree’s balance, making it heavier on one side.

A KMC official said trimming branches on all sides of a large tree takes time, and doing so on several trees along a road would require days, if not weeks.

The trimming done ahead of Durga Puja is at short notice. “We try to trim branches on all sides, but time constraints can lead to trimming on one side only,” admitted a KMC official.

KMC sources said owners of houses often do not permit their personnel to enter the buildings and trim branches growing towards their homes. With little time in hand to complete the job, the KMC team moves on to the next tree, they said.

Arjan Basu Roy, a naturalist, said trimming branches during the monsoon is advisable but it should be done scientifically. Branches and foliage grow fast during the rainy season.

“Branches expand fast during the monsoon. Trimming them becomes necessary, but they should be equal on all sides. If the trimming is not proper, it distorts the balance of the tree,” said Basu Roy, founder of the NGO Nature Mates that has restored many uprooted trees.

At Jatindra Mohan Avenue, the erection of bamboo frames has begun.

This newspaper reported last year how layers of hoardings, one above the other had completely hidden the view of buildings behind them. Spotting a fire or a crime behind the curtain of hoardings became impossible.

A Sovabazar resident said some of the trees in his neighbourhood had been trimmed in a manner that their head load had increased. All branches and foliage from the lower reaches had been removed but the ones at the top were kept untouched, he
said.

In the Advertisement Policy Regulations, 2025, notified in June, the KMC introduced many restrictions on Puja-related hoardings and advertisements.

The regulations mention that temporary advertisements put up during Durga Puja “may be allowed from 7 days before Mahalaya and may be continued up to 7 days after Vijaya Dashami for Durga Puja”.

For Kali Puja, hoardings are allowed for 72 hours before and after the festival.

No bamboo scaffoldings would be allowed on median verges and road dividers. The bamboo scaffoldings cannot be more than 22ft tall from the road.

Ajay Mittal, a Hazra resident who started an online petition demanding rules that regulated Puja hoardings, said he hoped there will be change.

“There were three-layer hoardings, one above another, last year. I hope the KMC will not allow such hoardings this year. They do not allow residents of the buildings to see anything on the road. Besides, they can also lead to accidents,” said Mittal.