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.

Harish (37), resident of Paduvarahalli 2nd cross, a 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.