The house I inherited in Santiniketan was built at least 60 years ago and all the trees in its garden were planted at that time. I don't know whether it is because of pests or age, but we have lost quite a few trees ever since I moved into the house about eight years ago. But most of the trees we lost were not very large and we managed to cut their branches in the garden to use as firewood — they weren't really useful for anything else.
Recently, a large jackfruit tree in our garden died. Since its trunk and branches were thick we thought it would be sinful to chop it for firewood when it could easily be used for furniture. And that's when the fun began.
We were informed that if we got people to take the tree down, we would not be allowed to get the wood out of our gates without the permission of the forest department. Being law-abiding and God-fearing citizens, we did not even consider any other means and went straight to the forest department to find out the due process. There we were handed a five-page form that needed to be filled and sent to the Visva Bharati University (because the area we live in falls within the university's jurisdiction) for a no-objection certificate. We were told once we have the approval of the university, the form would be sent to the forest officer stationed in Santiniketan and then to the district headquarter at Suri for the final permission. Read the full report here.
Source: Keya Sarkar, Business Standard, New Delhi.
