VIJAYAWADA: The incidence of tree branches suddenly falling on passersby is omnipresent in monsoon at various parts of the city. The death of a 12 year old boy due to a tree branch falling on his head at Satyanarayanapuram on Tuesday is yet to shake the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) out of its slumber and take responsibility of cutting down aged trees which pose a serious threat to residents.
On Wednesday, Express made a visit to Kommu Vari Street in Satyanarayanapuram where 12-year-old Sri Harsha lost his life. An eucalyptus tree could be spotted near the accident spot posing a serious threat to residents and passersby. Few residents alleged that several appeals have been made to the horticulture department to cut down the low hanging branches. However, their appeals have not reached the officials.
Every year, before monsoon, the civic body axe down trees and its branches to avert any mishap. Despite these measures,the last six years have witnessed at least five people succumbing to trees or branches falling. This year, the civic body is yet to begin the exercise. Sources in the corporation stated that as many as 200 staff are exercising their duties under VMC horticulture department. Majority of the staff confine themselves to plant saplings on the central medians, but not removing the old aged tree branches in the city. Moreover, it is the electricity department which has been axing the low lying tree branches across the city to avoid electricy interruption.
As per the records available with the VMC, the tree population stood around two lakhs in the city. Among them as many as 5,000 old trees are there in the city at Gayatri Nagar, Ashok Nagar, LIC Colony, JD Nagar, Devi Nagar, Ajithsingh Nagar, Madhura Nagar, SBI Colony, Revenue Employees Colony, Andhra Loyola College and Moghalrajpuram.
“A few years ago, a tree came down on a tempo and two people lost thier lives near Governorpet-1 bus depot in the city. These aged trees cannot be left unattended. Why is the horticulture department not acting when it is clear that thousands of people including students use these roads every day,” asked V Raghava Sarma, an employee at a private company.
Admitting the challenge of axing the trees in the city, VMC additional director (horticulture) Pradeep Kumar told Express that if the civic body launches a drive and more trees are felled, people might accuse the VMC of reducing greenery in the city. “Although many trees are quite old, we remove trees only when it becomes imperative. As of now, no application for cutting down these trees has reached the department. In case of trees that pose risk to life and property, the VMC can act without waiting for the forest department to intervene,” he said.
Kumar added that a team of officials will conduct a survey in the city to identify the dangerous trees and launch a drive in next few days to clear the tree branches posing threat to the residents, to avoid untoward incidents in the future.