An inspection team will be set up in Hanoi to report on the chopping down of thousands of street trees.

This was announced at a meeting on March 22 by the chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, Nguyen The Thao.

Several weeks ago, for so-called safety and beauty reasons, city authorities decided to fell the trees with decayed or curved trunks and branches and replace them with young saplings.

The project aimed to fell and replace 6,700 trees on 190 streets. So far, about 500 trees have been felled, stirring up widespread protests.

On March 20, the protests forced authorities to stop felling of trees after it provoked widespread media and public concern.

Members of the public questioned the environmental impact of the removals and called for a public survey on the quality of the 6,700 trees.

Thao said the inspection team would be led by the chief inspector of the operation, adding that it would include representatives from different agencies in the city, including police, the Department of Finance, the Department of Planning and Architecture and the Department of Science and Technology.

The team must report its findings to the municipal People's Committee within a month, said Thao.

Thao also told the Department of Construction to suspend several officials involved in the tree removal programme.

VNS