The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has warned citizens not to chop trees or branches for Holi bonfires or else one will have to face punishment under the tree preservation law.
According to BMC’s notice, people who will fell trees will face imprisonment for a term of one week up to 1 year and will also have to pay a fine of ₹1,000 to ₹5000 as per the guidelines of Maharashtra (Urban Areas) and Preservation of Trees Act, 1975.
Along with the BMC, citizen groups have also urged Mumbaiites not to burn bonfires during Holi as it will worsen the city’s air quality.
In such cases, we have asked our horticultural assistant to ensure that violators are penalised for tree felling activities. We will be placing our officers on duty from Wednesday onwards to keep a tab on illegal tree felling,” Jitendra Pardeshi, superintendent of gardens, BMC.
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