Mangaluru : The National Environment Care Federation (NECF) is trying its best to stop the felling of tress at the proposed site of the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex at Padil and will stage a protest in front of the DC‘s office on Tuesday.

A member of the federation, drawing attention of the people towards water crises questioned, “Do you want rains and water problems to end? Do you want to breathe clean air? All this would be possible only if trees and nature are protected.”

The project worth Rs 41-crore received a nod from the state government in April and will be spread across an area of 2,15,382 square feet.

A member of the federation said that the land issue was with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai and it has given a stay over felling of trees till July 4. The NGT has ordered the Central Environment Committee to inspect the land and submit a report along with help from the Chief Conservator of Forests.

A survey conducted by the forest department identified only 66 of the 386 trees as naturally grown in 5.89 acres and that the land was less than five acres after deducting areas where there was a road and buildings. This survey was contested by an advocate who had approached the NGT earlier.

Accordingly, the advocate said that there were more than 478 trees on the land as per reports issued by the Departments of Applied Botany and Applied Zoology, Mangalore University. Thus, he demanded that the land had to be construed as deemed forest and must be classified as such as it fulfilled all criteria.