Friday’s gigantic duststorm and thundersquall left all the civic bodies of the city packed with action on Saturday. All the three municipal corporations along with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) were kept on their toes to restore order in its areas — decongesting roads and removing uprooted trees. The storm had taken nine lives in the NCR region, including six in Delhi, on Friday evening.
While the total count of uprooted trees stood at over 106, the NDMC area alone witnessed over 66 incidents — the highest among all the areas catered by civic agencies. Among the three corporations, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) maximum damage were reported from East Delhi, where nearly 20 trees fell during the storm. Besides, there were several cases of trees being uprooted even on Saturday owing to the storm where NDMC recorded 22 additional incidents.
“The major problem was restoring vehicular traffic order on the streets. Though we started the restoration work on Friday night only, today also we are clearing the streets of fallen trees or branches,” said Yogendra Singh Mann, PRO, NMC. The NMC which received nine complaints of tree falling on Friday was busy clearing the roads and streets by chopping the fallen trees or branches. “Big trees were being cut into smaller logs and the wood is either sent to the Forest Department or to a crematorium depending on the size,” added Mann.
SDMC too was working on clearing trees and restoring order in its area, where a total of 11 complaints of trees being uprooted were reported. Municipal official said that less number of trees fell this time after concrete around them were removed. Because of National Green Tribunal’s order to ‘deconcretise’ trees in the city, less number of trees fell this time, about 30-40 per cent less than what used to be earlier,” said Mukesh Yadav, PRO, SDMC.