No system to protect Corp’s shade trees

The Corporation has initiated a campaign to plant one lakh saplings in the city. However, the Corporation has no system to either conserve the existing trees or to monitor the planting process.

Chairman of the environment working group, under the Town Planning Committee of Kochi Corporation, David Parambithara says that he has been submitting applications for allocation of funds for the purpose from the People’s Plan Fund for the past four years. However, the applications have failed to get past the statelevel advisory group all these years.

“Pruning of trees is imperative to conserve the trees. The falling of tree branches has become a frequent occurrence during the rain in some parts of the city. This is mostly because they are not pruned on time. There is also the cost factor as trees often fall on the top of houses or electrical posts or lines, causing much damage,” says David.

Chairman of Environment Conservation, Statelevel Technical Advisory Group, C K Ramachandran says that the Corporation’s applications were rejected repeatedly as “the applications were not submitted properly. To allocate funds, the cost factor as well as other details must be clear.”

David says that this happens because there are no experts in the Corporation to give details on either conservation aspects or the cost factor involved, “as pruning and other conservation needs differ for each species of tree. It is not easy to prepare this.” Though a proposal to form a unit for tree conservation with the few existing employees was mooted in the council, it did not work out. However, he says there is every need for such a unit.

K J Sohan, the councillor of Veli in Fort Kochi, an area where falling of tree branches has become a common occurrence, says that it is very important to have a system to conserve these trees and prune them on time. He adds that it is equally important to monitor the planting of trees. In his opinion “the type of trees to be planted in each area must be decided carefully, otherwise, later it will prove harmful to both the tree and its surroundings”.

Environmentalist S Sitaraman too opines that it is important to prune trees on time, as it is imperative for the longevity of the trees as well to avoid other accidents, “To protect the existing trees is as important as planting new ones. Unfortunately, authorities are yet to realise this.”