Calcutta: A large radhachura tree and two devdaru trees were felled in violation of rules in the Golmath area of Bhowanipore to set up a booster pumping station on Thursday.

The West Bengal Trees (Protection and Conservation in Non-Forest Areas) Act 2006 bars felling of trees without the forest department's permission. The permission is given after those planning to cut trees undertake to plant five for every tree felled.

Calcutta Municipal Corporation officials said no such permission had been obtained for chopping the trees.

Metro went to the spot following an alert from residents and saw four men were hacking the trunks of the felled trees. "We have been asked by the local councillor to cut the trees," said one of the workers who refused to be identified.

Local Trinamul councillor Sandip Ranjan Bakshi confirmed that the trees were being cut to set up a booster pumping station. Asked whether permission had been taken for the felling, he passed the buck to civic officials.

Officials in the parks and gardens department of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, who are responsible for protecting trees, admitted that rules had been violated.

"Once we received complaints, we stopped the felling of trees. We could save two trees, including one large krishnachura," an official said.

"It's extremely distressing that such mindless cutting of trees is continuing in Calcutta and the civic body is involved in it. All efforts to protect trees should be made in a city which has less than 5 per cent green cover, compared with the international benchmark of 15-20 per cent," a former forest department official said.

Environment activist Subhas Datta said he would lodge a police complaint.