It was just another Tuesday (May 21) morning for Vinjapuri Ravinder, 56, and his wife Sarala Devi, a government school teacher, who were on their way to the Secunderabad Cantonment hospital, until a massive Gulmohar tree at the hospital premises came down crashing on them, instantly taking away Ravinder’s life and leaving the 54-year-old wife grievously injured. The couple from Thumkunta were visiting the hospital to consult a doctor regarding the wife’s knee pain.
On Sunday evening a few days later, two farmers riding on a motorcycle were killed in a similar incident in Keesara when a tree collapsed on them. Nagireddy Ramreddy, 56, who was riding the bike, died on the spot and his friend Dhananjay, 42, succumbed to his injuries at a hospital shortly after. Unconfirmed reports suggest that over a dozen have lost lives across the state this month due to uprooting trees.
Incidentally, Hyderabad was the only Indian city in 2021 and one of the two cities along with Mumbai in 2022 to be recognised as a ‘Tree City of the World’ by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The award is bestowed upon cities across the world for their commitment to urban and community forestry.
In such a scenario, several road stretches in and around Hyderabad, dotted with trees that provide shade from the scorching sun, may just be a disaster waiting to happen. According to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), nearly 600 trees are found to be dry, diseased or dead and hence a possible threat to people on the streets.
A survey in this regard was conducted over the last week by the Corporation after repeated incidents of lives lost to the uprooting of trees were reported in the city.
Holding back her emotions, Sai Surabhi, the 28-year-old daughter of Ravinder and Sarala Devi, said she and her sister are now left to fend for themselves as their mother is bedridden and their father is no more. Surabhi, who has completed her degree, is unemployed and her older sister Sai Sumana works in a private job for a menial salary. The mother is paralyzed below the waist and may take several months to recuperate.
“Since the day of the accident, we have been fighting for better medical treatment for our mother. We are going back to Cantonment Hospital after the private hospital discharged her without any explanation. Before that, she underwent surgery at Gandhi Hospital and they referred us to a private hospital in a day. Fortunately, she can speak, but is immobile,” Surabhi told indianexpress.com.
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“No one from the government or any agency has approached us with any monetary support, compensation or ex gratia,” she responded when asked.
‘Uprooting of trees a common incident’
The civic body’s EVDM (Enforcement Vigilance and Disaster Management) wing, which is responsible for emergency response, received over 700 complaints regarding uprooting of trees or partial damage to trees in May alone. Officials say they receive 40 to 50 such complaints on a rainy day and five to six complaints on a non-rainy day and that such large-scale uprooting of trees or damage to trees is common only during pre-monsoon showers.
For instance, on May 27 alone the EVDM received 23 tree fall complaints and another 29 tree branch fall complaints. “Though the cantonment incident does not come under our GHMC’s purview, we have started to segregate information on tree fall and tree branch fall cases over the last few days. Of the 700 complaints we received this month, 90 per cent are that of tree branch falls,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
The uprooting of trees is common in areas under the cantonment, said B T Srinivasan, general secretary of United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations, an umbrella body representing residents welfare associations (RWAs) in Greater Hyderabad. This, he said, is because the cantonment happens to have more trees which are even older than 150 years.
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“Every monsoon one or two very old trees keep falling. The government should do an audit of trees in urban areas where there is vehicular traffic. They need to find out how strong these trees are and must do regular pruning, especially before the monsoon,” said Srinivasan.
N Sunanda Rani, chief horticulture officer and additional commissioner of GHMC’s Urban Biodiversity (UBD) wing, begs to differ with the EVDM’s numbers.
“There is a misconception among the public due to a miscommunication that all complaints relating to trees are about the uprooting of trees. They are not. Most cases pertain to minor or partial damages to trees. Only 10 to 15 trees were found uprooted in GHMC last week. The rest are all only damages to trees, dried branches etc,” she stated.
According to her, the UBD wing conducted a field-level survey last week and identified about 600 trees that are dead, diseased or are posing a threat to the community. “Of them, 550 trees were recommended for translocation or felling. These trees are not only on the roads, but also public spaces, common community areas, and government institutions premises,” she added.
‘Half-hearted attempt’
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It is only a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the civic body, said Uday Krishna of the Vata Foundation, which pioneers in translocation of trees. “It is a half-hearted attempt to close the issue because someone lost his life. If a tree fell and no one was hurt, nothing would have been done. The issue for them is that someone expired, not that some tree fell. For us, the issue is why is the tree falling. You address that and then no one will die. The approach is different,” said Uday Krishna, adding that countless numbers of trees are falling year after year.
The reason, according to city-based activist Vinay Vangala, is the urbanisation and concretisation of street pavements. “The base of trees on footpaths is often covered with concrete, and pavements laid in tiles that do not allow percolation of water and let the roots grow. The UBD and engineering wing of GHMC need to work in tandem to stop these trees from their natural death. Give them some breathing space and let them grow,” Vinay added.
Echoing similar views, Uday Krishna added that the corporation staff are quick to remove a fallen tree but no one studied why the tree has fallen. “There is no evidence left as the tree is removed almost immediately by EVDM. In 99 per cent of the cases, it is because of concretisation of the base and the roots started rotting leading to its death and collapse. Our trees need a dedicated team to ensure their well-being, rather than a dedicated team that removes fallen trees,” he said.
‘Faulty pruning’
B T Srinivasan also found fault with the pre-monsoon pruning of trees by the electricity department. He said that the department staff halts the power supply in a colony for four or five hours and goes on hacking trees in the name of pruning branches. “They cut away trees haphazardly and abandon them on the side of the road,” he said. Uday Krishna added: “Unscientific trimming and pruning, choking of trees, by untrained staff with no guidelines is one of the major reasons resulting in a tree’s death.”
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Agreeing with others, Sunanda Rani maintained that while a tree’s age weakens its structure, lack of space for roots to grow limits a tree’s ability to withstand heavy winds. The officer said that the data collected over the week would be cross-verified by deputy directors and a final call would be taken regarding those trees in a week.
“The DDs have been asked to take care of all those trees and Zonal Commissioners have been delegated power to decide on translocation. If any tree can be revived, we will revive them. If not, we will try for translocation and opt for felling as a last resort, considering threat to the community, with due approval from the GHMC commissioner,” Sunanda added.
