CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation’s uprooted tree count has gone up to 17,133, according to a latest release from the civic body.
Out of these, 12,135 trees have been cleared, said the release. From Monday to Saturday, 20,722 tonnes of garbage and 19,378 tonnes of tree waste have been cleared.
Talking to Express, a Corporation official said that the number of uprooted trees had been arrived at after the surveys undertaken by the assistant engineers in each zone.
Even as the city Corporation increased the number of workers on the field to 19,411 from the previously stated 18,000, aided by 3,200 workers from other districts and 743 lorries, 416 excavators, and 560 gasoline powered saws, almost 5000 trees remain to be cleared. The release also said that those damaged trees, which still have the potential to survive, had been identified and were being cared for while steps would be taken to plant more saplings than the number of trees that were damaged on Monday.
According to the release, 509 of the 2,226 damaged lamp-posts had been set right and 1,085 of the 2,465 complaints received by the Corporation have been resolved. Relief measures being undertaken by the civic body were reviewed at a meeting held at the Ripon Building on Sunday. Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Secretary Phanindra Reddy and Corporation Commissioner D Karthikeyan attended.