Chennai residents of some localities are complaining to the authorities that vandals are cutting down healthy trees while pretending to be clearing the city’s street after Cyclone Vardah, reported The Times of India.
The localities include Alwarpet, Nandanam, Thiruvanmiyur and Shastri Nagar. The residents alleged that among neighbourhoods were thugs who came ahead pretending to help Chennai recover from Cyclone and left with good timber among the damaged remains of trees.
Activist D Vijayabaskar of Alwarpet told TOI that some traders and sidekicks were using the clean-up drive as an opportunity to axe trees that they felt blocked their establishments or the view from their houses.
He added that residents cut down health trees on 1st main road, Seethammal Colony Extension, and about six trees on Boat Club Road.
However, Chennai commissioner D Karthikeyan told TOI that he had asked the staff not to cut down trees which were not severely damaged.
According to a press released by the Chennai Corporation last week, uprooted tree count had gone up to 17,133.
Moreover, the Corporation is all set to auction more than 65,000 tons of trees which fell due to Cyclone Vardah, starting Monday.
The city corporation had increased the number of workers involved in relief work to 19, 411, which was earlier about 18,000. About 3200 workers were brought in from other districts, including 743 lorries, 416 excavators and 560 gasoline powered saws.