Pune: Case registered against owners of Gera Development Pvt Ltd for cutting trees illegally

The incident, which was revealed by two to three nature enthusiasts, was carried out without approval from the PCMC.

A case has been registered against Gera Imperial Gateway, Gera Development Pvt. Ltd, Kumar Gera, Vijay Kalyankar, and Balaji Khandekar on May 27 for illegally cutting trees on the jogging track alongside Bhosari to Nashik Phata between the power company’s office to CIRT in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) jurisdiction. The incident came to fore on May 16 & 17. Bhosari police have registered a case.

The case has been registered under Section 3/1 of the Maharashtra Cutting of Trees (Regulation) Act, 1964, Section 4 of the Maharashtra Cutting of Trees (Regulation) Act, 1964 and Section 21/1 of the Maharashtra (Civil Areas) Survey and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.

The incident, which was revealed by two to three nature enthusiasts, was carried out without approval from the Tree Authority Dept of PCMC. The municipal corporation issued a notice after interrogation, and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Parks Department Assistant Suresh Ghode filed a complaint at Bhosari Police Station.

For the felling of trees in the municipal area, a permission is required. There is a provision of a Rs 50,000 fine for cutting a tree without permission and Rs 10,000 fine or imprisonment for two years for trimming a tree. The case will be heard at the civil court in Morwadi.

Ravikiran Ghodke, Assistant Commissioner, Garden Department of the PCMC stated that trees were felled without permission, and some branches were cut. After investigation a notice was sent to Gera Imperial Gateway, and Gera Development Pvt. Ltd. A case has also been registered for cutting trees without permission. On May 18, Sanjay Ausarmal and Sagar Kasbe, who are nature enthusiasts,  reported that trees were cut at the specified locations. The team from PCMC’s garden department arrived at the spot and found ten trees that had been cut.

As per information, some works of the Gera Imperial Gateway and Gera Builders were happening at the location. Upon interrogation, it was revealed that they had not taken any approval for cutting the trees. Hence, a complaint was filed against them and it has caused a loss of around 3 lakh rupees.