Activists petition Forest Minister over tree felling cases in Mysuru

Seek setting up of a committee to inquire into the persons responsible for felling trees in Yadavagiri and Vijayanagar first stage

A group of citizens, who are the members of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP), has urged Forest Minister Umesh Katti to institute a high-powered committee to inquire into the persons responsible for the irresponsible act of felling 20 trees here. The committee should also look into the action that can be taken against the guilty and institutional changes that can be brought to prevent such acts in the future in the State, it suggested.

In a letter to the Minister, they urged the Minister to ask the Forest Department officials to immediately act on their complaint over the two recent incidents of tree felling here.

They said on the night of December 13, three fully grown trees in front of a hospital in Yadavagiri were felled. “When some of us complained to the forest officer, he was unfriendly. He told us that he could act only if we could give details about who did it. Further, he asked us to complain in writing. We were surprised why he could not take action suo motu,” they said.