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According to the residents, Choudhury, who is also member of mayor-in-council, entered the park at around 7.30 in the morning. She then ordered eight civic employees to do the job.
Before locals could resist, the KMC staff had already chopped off two 20-ft trunks (8 inches in diameter) of a 60-year-old peepal tree and a 50-year-old Krishnachura tree.
“Before we could realise what was happening, eight civic employees started felling two trees. After our intervention, they were forced to leave the ground,” said Deepak Dasgupta, a resident who is a regular at the park for the last 40 years.
His friends joined him in agitating against the action.
After the protest intensified, the local councillor left the spot.
Within no time, two trucks shifted the chopped portions of the trees from the park away from public glare.
Meanwhile, the KMC, which is in the centre of the controversy, termed it as a routine pruning of trees.
“It is a regular pruning activity conducted by members of the parks,” said Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
According to Chowdhury, the trees had to be pruned to make room for two wooden towers that were being set up for the Mayor’s cup, beginning January 10.
