It seems Kolkata, the city with the least number of trees among Indian metros, is bent on having its green cover shrink even more. An environmental organisation based in the city feels that trees are being felled in the city often with the active support of the very authorities who should protect trees.
A letter written to the city mayor by Sabuj Mancha, the environmental organisation, highlights a number of recent incidents of tree-felling in the southern part of the city that seem to have been carried out in the full knowledge of local civic authorities, if not with their encouragement.
South wards most vulnerable
Most of these incidents in the wards on the southern extremities of the city.
“In February 2025, two disastrous incidents occurred in Kolkata. The first took place in Ward 111 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)… Several huge trees, 30-40 years old, were cut down. The ward’s councilor defended the tree felling,” the letter, signed by Sabuj Mancha general secretary Naba Dutta.
“A few days later, 57 trees were cut down near Kalikapur More in Ward 106. The felling was carried out under the direction and initiative of the councilor of the ward. He claimed that the trees were cut down with the municipality’s permission to install a water pumping station,” the letter continues.
According to media reports, the councilor had dismissed this incident and had said that the KMC had filed an FIR at the police station on the illegal cutting of these trees.
Councillor role
When the activists enquired at the police station, it was learned that an FIR did exist, but no one had been apprehended. The councilor had publicly admitted that the trees were cut down at his initiative and under his instructions, but no information was received about any action being taken against him.
A similar incident occurred in Patuli. In the second week of August 2025, four huge trees were cut down in Ward No. 101, in front of K.K. Das College on the Patuli Bypass Connector, the letter says. Among them were Bakul and sandalwood trees. Angry residents and environmental activists met the councillor, who stated that there was road construction work underway, and the workers mistakenly cut down the trees.
Patuli epicentre
After residents and environmental activists filed a complaint at the police station on August 18, 2025, it was seen that the stumps of the trees that were cut had been removed and the area paved with concrete blocks. Residents remember the large trees that disappeared, of which photographs remain.
Around the same time, another six trees, including neem trees, on a pavement in the area were also felled, the letter says.
A total of about 15 trees have disappeared in the area since the beginning of 2024, residents told Sabuj Mancha activists.
A media report mentions that 37 trees had disappeared overnight in September 2023 from the divider on the EM Bypass stretch between Wards 101 and 110.
Trees cut for fountain
“The most recent incident of tree cutting occurred at Shakespeare Sarani Park, formerly known as Macpherson Square,” says the letter. “Last year in November, a private company, apparently with the permission of the KMC, cut down many huge trees in the name of carrying out construction work in this park. From newspaper reports, it is understood that about a dozen trees were cut down to construct a fountain,” it continues.
Following media reports and an uproar, the KMC stopped the tree-felling in the park. The matter is currently being considered by the Calcutta High Court.
A matter of shame
Even if there is outrage about a tree-felling incident, there is no action. After 57 trees were cut down in Ward 106 in Kalikapur in early 2025, the municipality and the forest department condemned the incident, but they did not take any initiative to plant new saplings there, the letter says.
The inaction was followed by a more shameful act. A few activists had planted 60 saplings on that spot and about 20 more saplings in the surrounding area. Among them were several banyan saplings. On an August day, it was suddenly discovered that all the saplings had been uprooted.
It’s not public work vs trees
In all these incidents the provisions of the 2006 Tree Protection Act were disregarded and so was the requirement to take permission from the Forest Department, the letter says.
Wherever the KMC has reacted on such matters, it has happened only after an uproar in the media. It must be remembered that even if trees have to be cut down for any ‘public welfare’ work, permission must be obtained from the Forest Department beforehand, following the rules, the letter reminds. It stresses that more importantly, it must first be considered how public welfare work can be carried out without destroying trees or other natural resources.
“Where nature and the environment are endangered, and in the case of Kolkata, where our city’s green resources are particularly vulnerable, failing to do even this much is not only a violation of law and justice, but a gross injustice,” the letter concludes, making a strong appeal to the KMC to look into the matter of the city’s disappearing green.