Latest news with #SrinivasKanchibhotla
The Hindu
06-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Forest officials inspect gated community to verify trimming
The Aparna Cyber County Owners Welfare Society had made a formal written request to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for pruning of trees in the gated community at Nallagandla before taking up the exercise themselves. The society mentioned the risk faced by the residents, and lack of ventilation due to heavy growth of trees in the community and sought help from the GHMC for maintenance of greenery. However, with greenery maintenance in gated communities out of its purview, the corporation has not responded to the request nor provided any guidelines for handling it as per norms. Indiscriminate pruning of the trees in the community has been flagged by green lovers on the social media, spurring the Forest Department officials into action. On Tuesday, a team of forest officials visited the community and noted that branches of several Spathodea (African Tulip) trees were chopped. They held a meeting with the community and apprised them of the proper procedure to follow for pruning and maintenance of the trees. Forest Range Officer B. Lakshman said the inspection was taken up after a complaint from one of the residents, and that the community will be penalised for the violation. Issuing a clarification in response to the news report, Trees trimmed to the stub haphazardly, published on Tuesday, secretary of Aparna Cyber County Owners Welfare Society, Srinivas Kanchibhotla said the trimmed trees were not Kadamba, but Spathodea (African Tulip) trees. They have a tendency to snap, break and crash at a moment's notice, and hence necessitated trimming. Further, it was not one branch that snapped, but there were four different instances of branches crashing in front of different villas, the clarification said. They narrowly missed children passing by, parked four wheelers and compound walls of the villas. The note also said a horticulturist associated with the builder of the community was consulted before taking up the trimming. He reportedly advised them to bring the tree height to 25-30 feet to maintain a low centre of gravity.
The Hindu
05-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Trees trimmed to the stub in gated community decried
Absence of a standard protocol for trimming/pruning of tree branches is not only playing havoc with the greenery in public places, but also ruining the verdant spaces in gated communities. Denuding the trees of foliage and axing of branches in the name of pruning, is routinely carried out by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in the road medians and road margins, while the power distribution authorities resort to lopsided trimming causing canopy imbalance and subsequent falls, endangering lives and property. What goes on inside the gated communities is rarely public news. A recent instance wherein a gated community resorted to indiscriminate chopping of branches is making rounds of the social media, and drawing consternation from the viewers. Canopies of a large number of Kadamba trees (Neolamarckia cadamba) trees planted in the road margins of the gated community, Aparna Cyber County in Nallagandla were totally removed, leaving the trees with bare trunks and half branches. Posts by the Vata Foundation and Save City Forests group about the incident have gained traction on the social media. It is estimated that a total 37 trees were subjected to the 'trimming'. When enquired, it is learnt that a resolution was passed in the General Body Meeting of the community, with almost everyone concurring that the trees needed pruning. Secretary of the owners' association Srinivas Kanchibhotla, when contacted, said that the decision was spurred by a recent incident wherein a tree branch cracked under the impact of recent thunderstorm. 'We are all environmentalists here in the community, and we'd also want great canopies and tree covers, but the unmanageable heights to which the trees have been allowed to grow in the past 15 years for a variety of reasons, posed a serious threat to life, limb and property,' said. The intention is to allow the trees to grow at a more manageable and safe heights with regular trimming and pruning operations going forward, he added. No horticultural expert was approached nor the Forest department's permission has been taken for the operation. Uday Krishna Peddireddi from the Vata Foundation questioned the manner in which the operation was undertaken in peak summer. 'One branch falling cannot be an excuse. Has anybody thought what the trees must have gone through with all foliage removed in the harsh summer? It's high time the Forest department came up with a standard protocol for tree trimming and pruning, and enforced it strictly,' said. Rangareddy District Forest Officer Sudhakar Reddy, when contacted, said, a couple of months ago, the community had been forewarned against its intention to fell the Kadamba trees as decided in the general body meeting. However, he is not aware of the latest incident.
