At least nine trees were felled on a stretch of pavement in Patuli last month without the civic body’s knowledge or permission, allegedly to make way for a popular Durga Puja in the neighbourhood, residents said.

One resident said the trees were chopped in phases, in the dead of the night, between August 10 and 15. The trees were near KK Das College and Palki restaurant, on the approach to Kendua Shanti Sangha, the popular Puja in the area.

“We have lodged a complaint with Patuli police station against unidentified persons for felling the trees,” an official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said.

Patuli resident Durba Mitra told Metro that the trees included full-grown Gulmohar trees. “I first thought that there was an issue with a tree, and it was felled for the safety of people. But it cannot be that all the trees were diseased or weak,” she said. She is also the legal officer of the NGO Human and Environment Alliance League (Heal).

“It seems the trees were felled to clear the path to Kendua Shanti Sangha’s Puja pandal. The puja committee puts up its banners along this stretch,” another resident said.

Trinamool councillor of Ward 101 and chairman of Kendua Shanti Sangha Durga Puja Committee, Bappaditya Dasgupta, said they had arranged to trim some branches. “But I was surprised to see that entire trees had been felled. I don’t know who cut the trees and where the branches and trunks disappeared,” he said.

Dasgupta claimed he had informed the KMC about the felling and ensured a complaint was filed.

Resident Mitra, too, lodged complaints with the police and the state forest department.

Her complaint to the forest department stated: “... the cutting has been carried out without any visible permissions or public notice, raising serious concerns of illegality and suggesting blatant violation of the West Bengal Trees (Protection and Conservation in Non-Forest Areas) Act, 2006, which prohibits felling without lawful permission.”

“These trees are invaluable to the local community, providing much-needed shade during the harsh summer months to students, rickshaw-pullers, and commuters waiting for public transport, while also serving as important habitats for birds, insects, and small mammals such as squirrels and bats.”

A state department official said those responsible for the felling could be fined or booked, or even imprisoned, under the West Bengal Trees Act.

“No tree can be felled without permission from the local civic body and the state forest department. Even if someone wants to cut a dead tree or one leaning dangerously, the permissions are essential,” said the official.