LG orders pruning, proper deconcretising of trees
As hundreds of trees were uprooted during thunderstorm and heavy rains in national Capital on Monday evening, Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday expressed concern and assured rectification of causes so that such incidents are not repeated. The L-G has directed officials to ensure that deconcretising of one square meter around bases of trees was done meticulously. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) reported that over 215 trees had uprooted while New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) reported around 100 such cases.
The L-G reiterated that exercise of pruning and clearing of base of trees should be undertaken immediately and completed at earliest. The L-G laid emphasis on pruning of all weak, diseased and unevenly grown trees immediately. He ordered trimming of weak branches, mostly hanging over roads that posed a serious threat to commuters. Saxena also instructed civic bodies to identify trees whose roots had weakened due to concretisation of pavements and asked them to take necessary steps to improve health of such trees.
According to officials, the L-G had, right on first day in office, directed officials to scientifically prune trees that were above 45 feet in height and 10 feet above surface. As per MCD, 750 workers were deployed to remove debris from roads that were blocked after 215 trees were uprooted on Monday.
The MCD received around 155 complaints of trees falling from Rohini, Ajmeri Gate, Dariyaganj, Pahadganj, Narayana, Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Friends Colony, Jangpura, Bawana Depot, Azadpur, Civil Lines, Jama Masjid, Vikaspuri, Saket, Sundar Nagri, Anand Vihar and Mayur Vihar etc.
The L-G took it to Twitter and wrote, “I share the concern of every resident of Delhi about the maintenance and upkeep of trees in the city and their related uprooting and breakage that happens in the event of a storm, throwing the city traffic out of gear. Let me assure you that we have taken the matter seriously and will address it at the earliest.”