Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has registered an FIR against a person who allegedly felled a tree on the basis of a fake permission letter. The man allegedly used an old letter by making some changes to fell the tree in sector 8 in Vashi on August 16.
The accused has been identified as Bajirao Kale, who was found felling a tree located at plot numbers 130 and 131 at sector 8 in Sagar Vihar in Vashi. He was noticed by a driver of NMMC’s solid waste management vehicle on August 16, around 10.30 am.
When the driver wanted to see the permission letter, Kale showed him a letter. The driver did not tell him, but took a photo of the permission letter and sent it to the superintendent of the civic Garden Department.
During verification of the letter, it was found that a similar serial number letter was issued on November 11 in 2019 for felling a tree of a society at sector 19 in Nerul. And, the Garden Department had not issued any letter for the sector 8 Vashi tree.
The civic body took the matter seriously and lodged a complaint at Vashi police station under section 21 (1) of the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Tree Protection and Preservation Act, 1975, by the Department of Horticulture / Tree Authority. Vashi police registered an FIR against Kale for fraud and forging documents and started the investigation.
