GURUGRAM: The forest department has sought a break from tree-felling in view of the monsoon and would like instead to focus on proposed plantation drives for the next two months.“Our office gets a lot of requests for tree-felling. The staff members generally remain busy in inspecting sites and giving permissions. As monsoon has already arrived, the field staff will be busy in several plantation drives. We, therefore, request you to not accept any request for tree felling for the next two months,” states a letter (a copy of which is with TOI) sent by the Gurugram district forest office to the forest conservator, south circle, Haryana.Apart from the busy schedule, officials maintained, monsoon is not a good season for felling trees. “First, our staff cannot manage tree-felling requests along with the plantation drives we have planned. Second, it is not advisable to cut or trim trees during the rainy season. We have, therefore, written to the higher-ups to keep permissions to cut trees on hold,” said Deepak Nanda, district forest officer.“We understand that the staff are very busy. We will consider their recommendation,” said a senior forest official.Nevertheless, the officials will carry out tree-chopping wherever permissions have been granted.Environmentalists, while welcoming the move, said tree-felling during monsoon could lead to waterlogging and even reduce groundwater recharging capacity of the affected area.“Trees certainly gather a lot of moisture and help in percolation of water down the roots. As they hold water, it helps preventing floods too. These apart, during rainfall, there is an increase in the number of insects. Also, many birds raise their chicks during this season. Reptiles climb trees to avoid moisture on the ground. In a nutshell, the entire biodiversity thrives during this time and any disruption can lead to greater losses,” said Vijay Dhasmana, chief ecologist and consultant at iamgurgaon (an NGO).Pankaj Gupta from Delhi Bird Foundation (a Delhi-based NGO) said all resident species would nest during this time. “This is the time when trees grow. All resident bird species nest during this time. I think even pruning and trimming tree branches should be done after monsoon,” he said.

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