THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A few years ago, the state government received a proposal from Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Ltd (TRDCL), a concessionaire of KRFB, to plant new tree saplings in between the existing trees on the Kowdiar-Museum stretch.
However, the project, which would have actually helped to see new trees coming up and protect the old trees from getting uprooted, never took off. Two days after the Onam pageantry, a huge tree fell onto the road in front of Post Matric Hostel, Vellayambalam, avoiding a major catastrophe.
Former TRDCL managing director Anilkumar Pandala told TNIE that in 2018, he along with C Gokulapalan, former professor in plant pathology, Kerala Agriculture University, Vellayani, had presented a proposal to the then Chief Secretary Tom Jose to plant tree saplings in between the existing avenue trees.“The proposal was to axe 40-50 trees in due course once the new saplings evolved into trees.
This would have happened if there was a clear understanding between all the stakeholders. If required, we could have planted the saplings inside the wall. Unfortunately, nothing materialised,” said Anilkumar.
Gokulapalan told TNIE that the majority of the avenue trees on the stretch have fungal infection leading to them getting uprooted or their branches falling down in the rain.
“All the avenue trees are pretty old in this particular stretch. There are lots of restrictions for the trees to grow. The fungal infection among the trees is definitely a major issue which needs to be addressed,” said the senior plant pathologist.
Ever since the TRDCL handed over the 14-km road back to the KRFB out of the 42-km stretch, the landscape of a major part of the capital city has not been in good shape. A senior KRFB official told TNIE that ahead of the Onam season, their workers had initiated pruning of trees and plants on the Kowdiar traffic island and media on a war footing.
“We have started maintenance and pruning of trees on various corridors in the 14-km stretch. Currently, efforts are on to finalise the agency to undertake the pruning of trees in a time-bound manner,” said the official.