Rani Jhansi Road Residents Protest Illegal Tree Removal; Authorities Under Scrutiny

The illegal cutting of five fully grown trees on Rani Jhansi Road, situated in the Civil Lines area of Ludhiana, has raised serious concerns among residents and environmental groups. The Public Action Committee (PAC), Mattewara-Sutlej-Budha River, has taken note of the incident and issued a legal notice to senior Punjab government officials, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, and the Punjab Police. The committee has demanded the immediate registration of an FIR against the accused and strict punitive action. Violation of Court Orders According to PAC, the trees were felled in the early hours of March 2–3, 2026, in blatant violation of the interim order issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 3, 2026, which prohibits tree cutting across the state without explicit court permission. The illegal operation involved placing barricades on the road to prevent public interference. The notice alleges that the action was carried out at the behest of local resident Akhil Oswal and with the alleged complicity of certain municipal officials. Questions have also been raised regarding the horticulture department’s declaration of these decades-old, healthy trees as “dangerous.” PAC has termed the pretext of “pruning” as a cover for the deliberate destruction of the trees. Under the Tree Preservation Policy 2024, approval from a committee headed by the SDM and technical clearance from the DFO are mandatory for such operations. Neither of these approvals was obtained in this case. The PAC stated, “Destroying the city’s green environment for private commercial interests will not be tolerated. This is not just tree cutting; it is a violation of the law itself.”