Now Reading: Telangana village unites to save 75-year-old Peepal tree on private land
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Telangana village unites to save 75-year-old Peepal tree on private land
Telangana village unites to save 75-year-old Peepal tree on private land
Residents of Pedda Thandrapadu in Jogulamba Gadwal district have mobilised to stop the felling of a Peepal tree they estimate to be 75 years old, situated on private property. They filed objections…
Residents of Pedda Thandrapadu in Jogulamba Gadwal district have mobilised to stop the felling of a Peepal tree they estimate to be 75 years old, situated on private property. They filed objections during a ‘Prajavani’ programme and approached police, the Forest Department, and the National Green Tribunal, demanding the tree be declared a heritage tree.
Owner Jangam Bhogeshwar Rao, a government teacher, applied for felling permission calling the tree a hazard. He alleged the protest is driven by personal rivalries and said he is willing to bear translocation costs, though the root mass threatens his house's stability. Forest Range Officer Parvez Ahmed confirmed permission has not been granted due to widespread village objection, noting Peepal is an exempted species where felling is normally allowed on private land. The Mandal Parishad has not taken a decision on the matter.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Pedda Thandrapadu's fight reflects a tension unrecognised in most urban tree-protection laws: a tree on private land is largely the owner's property unless declared 'heritage'. Telangana has no state-level heritage-tree legislation, though the National Green Tribunal has in past cases restrained felling on ecological grounds even on private plots. The real question is whether the Forest Department's current refusal, justified only by public objection, will hold against a formal felling application under the exempted-species rule. The owner, a government teacher, has offered translocation, but the engineering problem, root mass threatening a house, shows why translocation is rarely a practical solution. The district administration's next move, likely a mediation or a formal hearing before the Mandal Parishad, will decide whether this 75-year-old tree survives or becomes a precedent that private land rights trump community sentiment.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
