CHENNAI: On July 14, traders took on Greater Chennai Corporation for chopping off the roots of trees along Pondy Bazaar to build a pedestrian plaza. Three days later, residents of Natesan Nagar in Virugambakkam fumed as six trees were cut along the 3rd Street to allegedly make way for vehicles of government officials living in a complex nearby. On July 20, a distraught reader reached out to TOI, sending a photograph of a chopped tree in Pondy Bazaar, asking where the recent spurt in cutting trees would take Chennai.When TOI checked corporation data, it found that there were no records on trees brought down on private or government land. In many cases, there is no effort to see if a tree marked for chopping could be saved. The civic body has, from January to July third week, given permission to fell 24 trees along roads within its jurisdiction. The corporation asked the agencies concerned to plant 10 saplings for each tree cut, but residents say such saplings seldom survive.Roots of a tree chopped off while laying drains"The regional deputy commissioner for respective region receives a request for tree felling in the zones under him. After an inspection by the zonal park overseer, permission may be granted," said an official.This year, trees in the city have been cut and transplanted at least seven times. This includes 10 trees felled on Anna University campus in February. And while the corporation can decide the fate of trees — and there are not too many — that dot the city’s roads, it has little say about trees on properties it does not own. This has prompted activists to call for a tree law, as in place in Delhi, which would criminalize the felling of trees."Without a tree act in place in Tamil Nadu, big trees are in danger, especially on private campuses. With an act to protect them, all trees under the state can be under the control of a tree authority. There needs to be strict penalty for indiscriminate cutting of trees," said Shobha Menon of Nizhal."We have got distress calls this year from residents in Porur, RA Puram and Virugambakkam. Development projects are a must, but trees should be accommodated in the design. They should not become casualties," Menon said.But even when trees are "accommodated in the design" they "become casualties". In May, PWD transplanted 15 trees near the Marina to behind the MGR Memorial.But a visit showed thatthe post-transplant care offered was poor and the trees were as good as dead.A former park superintendent with the civic body said the best way to keep trees alive was by not touching them. "Transplanting may look promising on book, but there are several factors to be considered. The species, age, the circumference of the tree trunk come into play. Trees that are over a century old will not survive transplanting. The civic body has no option but to cut it," he said.That said, granting of permission to fell a tree should be a strict process."The corporation should explore why the construction could not be carried out by accommodating the tree or by changing the work plan," he said.

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