Deccan Herald 09.01.2014
MCC wakes up, launches drive to prune old trees in city
The Forest department and Mysore City
Corporation (MCC) which had turned a blind eye towards pruning trees
scientifically, has finally woken up to the complaints from several
citizens.
The Corporation has received around 150-200
such complaints, following which it has launched a massive drive across
the city, where added focus would be given to cut trees that are beside
arterial and residential area roads. A team from MCC will identify and
mark the dried trees in all the three constituencies, which would be cut
later.
The rains which lashed the city last year, not only
exposed the poor infrastructure, but it took away a life, and caused
permanent disability to a day wage labour, when huge tree branches fell
on them. The incidents occurred in Ittigegudu and V V Mohalla,
respectively. Though the issue was brought to the notice of the
concerned officials, it had not bothered to take any measures.
daily wage labour was involved in shifting his house when he was injured
in his knee after a tree branch from a Gulmohar tree fell on him near
Sri Chandramoulishwar temple. Harish has not received any monetary
assistance so far, and is still bedridden.
Forest officials
claimed that it was the duty of MCC to cut such trees in its
jurisdiction, while the latter maintained that it could prune trees only
inside parks. MCC however had to give in, and pay a compensation of Rs
10,000 to a rider, whose two-wheeler was damaged in a tree fall in
Metagalli, recently.
The city has thousand of trees which are
several years old and need to be pruned every year, in order to avoid
any hazards. A majority of the trees are Gulmohars, planted during the
year of erstwhile kings of Mysore. Apart from property damage and loss
of live, Chamundeshwari Electricty Supply Corporation (CESC) has
incurred heavy losses (Rs 1 crore) due to tree falling.
The two
day heavy rains in the month of April, 2012, had brought down around 300
electric poles, and wires in the city. According to CESC officials, it
took nearly three to four days to fix the damages, which had left the
city without any power supply for 36 hours.