Online permissions for tree felling & trimming requests in Nashik

Nashik: The municipal corporation has started granting online permissions for felling or trimming of trees in a bid to facilitate residents or developers.
Residents, developers or other bodies seek permission from NMC before felling trees for construction purposes, projects, or in cases where the tree placements pose danger. The civic body's tree authority grants permission as per norms.
Earlier, the process was offline, thus time-consuming, as it required individuals to go to divisional offices and submit applications. Moreover, it took over two to six months to get the permission.
Several applications related to tree felling or trimming would remain pending with the garden department. Taking this in view, municipal commissioner Manisha Khatri ahs initiated granting of permission for the purpose online.
Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has developed an online portal specifically for the submission of applications and permissions online, subject to a maximum of 25 trees only. "We have developed the portal where people may apply online to get permission for felling or trimming of trees," said an NMC official.
A few years back, the tree authority set the policy for felling of trees for private and govt projects. According to the policy, institutes seeking permission had to plant five trees for chopping every tree, with a deposit of Rs5,000 for each, for a period of five years.
The deposit amount of Rs5,000 per tree was to be refunded after five years, subject to maintenance of the trees. The amount was to be seized if they failed to maintain and ensure the survival of the trees.