BTP on lookout for weak trees

BENGALURU: After heavy rains lashed the city over the weekend, bringing down trees, damaging electric poles and many vehicles, Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) have now come up with a ‘Pre Monsoon Preparedness’ plan.BTP along with a disaster management force team will conduct a survey and find the weak trees - trees that are tilted and are likely to fall with another bout of heavy rain. The survey was started in Indiranagar on Wednesday. the team found many weak trees in the area. 

“These weak trees can be dangerous to a person’s life. Such trees will be noted by the team and the details will be sent to the BBMP forest cell. They will then immediately come and cut down the tree,” said Additional Commisioner of Police (Traffic), P Harishekaran. 

For the first time ever, BTP personnel have been given 25 electric saws. Traffic policemen themselves will use these to cut down any tree or branch that the rain brings out, and make way for traffic. Harishekaran also held a meeting with all traffic officers to access the pre-monsoon preparedness.

Officers of all departments — BBMP, BWSSB, NHAI, BMRCL, BESCOM and BMTC — have been asked to form a common WhatsApp group to alert the traffic police about any tree fall and other incidents. 
They have also been asked to identify waterlogged areas and major traffic bottlenecks in the city. They have also been instructed to look out for illegal OFC cables.