Coimbatore: Uprooting of trees continues unabated during every day of rain. On Saturday, several trees were uprooted including one on Madhukkarai taluk office premises and two near Krishna Colony in Singanallur area. Around 150 trees have been uprooted in May alone, said environmentalists and revenue officials.
In Madhukkarai area alone, 30 trees were uprooted, said a revenue official. “But nobody was hurt and there has been no damage to any property. We are also trying to transplant a few trees to help them grow again,” said an official. The Madhukkarai tahsildar too decided to transplant the 22-year-old Indian cork tree (Maramalli tree) that fell on Saturday to another location.
“High wind velocity accompanied by heavy rains causes trees to uproot across the district. We need to carry out a study by recording all the species of the trees that were uprooted to find out the actual reason,” said a research scholar.
According to Syed of Osai, an environmental NGO, the main reason for many cases of tree uprooting is planting of exotic and invasive species instead of native species. “A minimum of five feet should be dug up before planting any tree to make it penetrate easily. The soil will become lose as we dig deeper and help the tree to stabilize,” he said.
Major locations where trees were uprooted are: Trichy Road, Mettupalayam Road, Kuniyamuthur, Siruvani Road, Perur taluk office, Madhukkarai Taluk Office, Race Course - Red Fields, R S Puram on T V Samy Road and Saibaba Colony.