CLAIM

3500 trees felled in Balangir for His Royal Highness Shri Narendra Modi by his friend @Naveen_Odisha. What a red ca… https://t.co/qaHqJ12QBU — Niranjan Patnaik (@NPatnaikOdisha) 1547469381000

TRUTH

Railway will estimate total loss of plants and replant more than two times of saplings lost. Initial estimates say… https://t.co/a1hsL34Po7 — TOI Bhubaneswar (@TOIBhubaneswar) 1547475455000

VERIFICATION AND METHODOLOGY

No tree cut to make helipad for PM @narendramodi Balangir visit, only a few scrubs removed, says a East Coast Railw… https://t.co/tC9Ehp3S1N — TOI Bhubaneswar (@TOIBhubaneswar) 1547475100000

VERDICT

A news report published by the Press Trust of India (PTI) on January 13 titled, “Felling of trees for PM's helipad sparks row in Odisha”, said “Two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Balangir district, a row surfaced on Sunday over alleged cutting of trees to prepare a temporary helipad.”Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Balangir, Sameer Satpathy said that several trees were felled near the railway station ground in the district to prepare a temporary helipad without obtaining prior, and that an inquiry has been ordered, according to the PTI report.The same PTI report quoted Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of East Coast Railways (ECoR) JP Mishra as saying, “We are doing our own enquiry on the subject."On January 13 itself, The Hindu published a report titled, "PM’s upcoming visit to Odisha: Over 1,000 trees felled". The report started saying, "Felling of over 1,000 trees for a temporary helipad for the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the western Odisha town of Balangir has made green activists see red," but in the second paragraph, said that saplings were planted on 2.25 hectares controlled by the Indian Railways in 2016, and authorities had to clear 1.25 hectares to make vacant land available to build the temporary helipad.The Hindu quoted Balangir DFO Satpathy (spelled as Samir Kumar Satpathy) as saying, "The allegation of tree felling is true. No prior permission was sought from us for it," and as saying, "When we asked the Railway officials, they said the land had been cleared for a helipad. From the security point of view, trees were urgently cut down, we were told."The report also quoted Satpathy as saying, "We are apprehending that trees between 1,000 and 1,200 have been lost."Many publications including India Times, National Herald and The Logical Indian carried reports saying "1,000 trees were felled" in the headline, quoting the report published on The Hindu. India Times, has however, updated the story on January 15 with new details and changed the headline.Indian Express, on January 14, published its own report titled, “Modi’s Odisha visit: Hundreds of trees felled to make space for PM’s helipad”, saying, ”hundreds of trees were cut allegedly to open up space for temporary helipads and for security reasons, prompting a blame game among the local forest department unit, railways and public works department.”The report quoted Balangir DFO Satpathy as saying, “About a thousand trees have been felled. A notice will be issued to the Railways to explain why they did this and with whose permission.”Publications like Scroll The Quint published reports based on the Indian Express report. Scroll titled the report, "1,000 trees felled ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha". The Quint's report said, "Hundreds of trees cut to make helipad space for Modi's Odisha tour." The Quint updated the story on January 15 and changed the headline to, "No Trees Cut for PM Modi’s Helipad During Odisha Visit: Reports".Niranjan Patnaik, President, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, tweeted saying, "3500 trees felled in Balangir for His Royal Highness Shri Narendra Modi by his friend @Naveen_Odisha. What a red carpet welcome! The iconic friendship of Shri Narendra Modi and Shri Naveen Patnaik will be remembered for generations."Only shrubs and few saplings were removed for the helipad, and no big tree was felled. Our investigation shows that the area in question never had so many trees to begin with.Also, on January 14, Times of India Bhubaneswar's verified Twitter handle tweeted saying, "Enquiry done by Railways reveals only shrubs and few saplings have been removed for PM helipad, no big tree cut."In subsequent tweets, TOI Bhubaneswar said, "Leaves/branches of few trees on Railway land had to be pruned to give full and proper space for helicopter movements. All concerned authorities were a part of all discussions and in greater administrative interest, few plants and shrubs had to be removed. Railway will estimate total loss of plants and replant more than two times of saplings lost. Initial estimates say not more than 40 shrubs and saplings removed. About six trees on Railway land have been pruned. Videos/photos show poor quality of maintenance of plantation."The one thing various reports agreed on is the location of the area where the temporary helipad was made - railway station ground / land owned by the Indian Railway near the Balangir station. Times Fact Check got in touch with TOI reporter who reported about the controversy to figure out the area used to build the helipad on Google Earth. The reporter confirmed that the area used is what looks like a barren land right next to the Balangir railway station.Here's a satellite image of the area where the temporary helipad was made:Here's a satellite image from 2016 of the area where the temporary helipad was built:It is evident from the satellite images that there were not many big trees on the land where the temporary helipad was made. The ECoR spokesperson also told the TOI reporter that some six trees were pruned and around 40 shrubs and few saplings were removed.TOI Bhubaneswar also tweeted a video of the land in question saying, "No tree cut to make helipad for PM Narendra Modi's Balangir visit, only a few scrubs removed, says a East Coast Railway spokesperson, January 7 video prior to helipad making shows there were no big tree on the spot."Times Fact Check found the news report claiming 1,000 trees were felled to make space available to create a temporary helipad in Odisha's Balangir ahead of PM Modi's visit to be untrue. A few trees were pruned, and some shrubs and saplings were removed, but no big trees were cut to make the temporary helipad.