NEW DELHI: While the entire attention has been on trees earmarked to be
chopped down to facilitate
redevelopment of colonies, no one has paid attention to trees falling during the gales the capital has recently seen. A small group of NGOS, RWAs and green activists are, however, making it their mission to “rescue” such trees and
replant them — a task blighted by
low survival rates.
On Monday, NGO Greencircle of Delhi and NDMC used ropes and a truck to replant a rohida tree (Tecomella undulata) uprooted by a storm in Lodhi Garden. NDMC staff dug a pit close to the fallen tree and a JCB and tractor moved the tree into the pit. Precautionary spraying of insecticides and pesticides was followed by erection of two supporting wooden legs on the tree trunk. The staff carried out a similar procedure last month to save an
Amaltas.
Suhas Borker, founding member of Greencircle of Delhi, said the idea was to send a message that each tree counted and efforts had to be made to save every one of them. “The rohida is a community tree. People bathe under it in the belief that it will rid your skin of diseases. People even hang their clothes on the tree for its medicinal properties,” he said.
NDMC officials pointed at the new leaves that the replanted Amaltas was sprouting, symbol of success in reviving uprooted trees. Saving trees, however, is not an activity that can be planned at leisure. Experts said there was a window of a few hours after which the chances of survival of a replanted tree went down drastically. “In normal conditions, it takes two-three months to replant a tree with proper planning, but in situations such as storms, one cannot wait for too long because the tree can die once uprooted,” pointed out Faiyaz Khudsar, scientist in-charge at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park.
Verhaen Khanna, a resident of New Friends Colony and founder of the group New Delhi Nature Society, oversaw one such successful replantation last month. When a peepal fell, the RWA did not give up on the decades-old tree and alerted SDMC, power utility BSES and Delhi Police. “We removed the top half of the tree to make it easier for it to stand,” said Khanna. “We dug a deep pit and used a crane to put the tree in it. We then created supports for the trunk. Trees like these have a good chance of surviving, but most people don’t make an effort to save them.”
NGO Green Circle and residents of Dwarka have come up with a tree clinic. The group sprang into action after Dwarka resident Anurag Behl posted a picture on social media of a tree that fell during the storm in May. Selvarajan, secretary of Green Circle and founder of the clinic, visited the spot with the NGO’s vice-chairman Anil Parashar. They decided to dig a 2-feet pit around the tap roots. The tree stood on the premises of a Gurdwara, so volunteers from the shrine pitched in with help. According to Selvarajan, the tree was leaning to one side. “We pulled it up and provided support on one side before covering the pit. We also used bricks in the soil for additional support,” he said. Happily, people have reported seeing new leaves on the tree. The buoyed NGO plans to tackle fallen trees in this manner now.
The NDMC staff dug a pit close to the fallen tree
