Division Forest Office Kaski has filed a case in Kaski District Court against 7 people on the charge of unauthorized cutting of hundreds of years old trees of Bar, Peepal and Sami trees in Ward No. 14 of Pokhara Metropolitan City.

In the charge sheet filed by the Forest Office on Monday, Bishnuraj Giri, Manager of Human Services Foundation Nepal, Tara Prasad Tiwari of Shubhmarg Toll Development Organization in Pokhara-14, Yogamaya Baral, Arjun Bahadur Karki of Radhakrishna Toll, Ramakrishna Adhikari, Gyanendra Sarki of Sadhana Marg and Ramesh Paudel have been made defendants.

Chief of Division Forest Office Kaski, Komalraj Kafle, said that during the investigation, the branches of Chautari Bir, Peepal and other trees were found to have been arbitrarily cut without following the procedure prescribed in the Forest Act and Regulations. "In the investigation, it has been discovered that they were giving and receiving compensation for Koti Home and making agreements against the law," he said,  It has also been revealed that the branches of such trees were cut and sold without going through the process.

The defendants are seen to have done the act without going through the process of Section 37(3) of the Forest Act 2076 and Rule 84(6) of the Forest Regulation 2079, so the Forest Office has demanded that they should be punished according to Section 50(14) of the Forest Act 2076. According to the Forest Act, there is a legal provision that the tree-cutters can be fined up to 10,000 rupees or imprisoned for 6 months or both.  is

Earlier last February, Manav Seva Foundation had cut down trees of Bar, Peepal and Sami to set up Koti Home in Pokhara from May 17 to June 26. 33 old trees have been cut down in different wards of Pokhara. All those trees are hundreds of years old. There were also chautara in the felled trees and there was a habitat for birds in those trees.

The conservationists have been demanding that those who cut trees in Pokhara's historic Chautara should be prosecuted and prosecuted according to law. Pokhara Bird Society, Mero Nepal Youth Club, Great Campaign for Environment Protection Kaski, civil society Kaski and various organizations also submitted a request to the Forest Office to investigate the incident and take action against the culprits.