Anticipating strong gusts of wind, corporation officials on Wednesday morning began removing banners including legal ones. Sources in Greater Chennai Corporation said the instruction, from commissioner G Prakash to regional deputy commissioners and zonal officers, was aimed at avoiding incidents of banners falling over pedestrians/motorists and causing injuries or death.
Though the exact count of banners removed by noon could not be ascertained, those on East Coast Road stretch (ECR) and Old Mahabalipuram (OMR), which are closer to where Cyclone Nivar is expected to make landfall, were taken out.
Corporation officials also reported 52 trees falling in areas across the city. The civic body has at its disposal a specialised three-wheeled automated treecutting machine which can reach to a height of around 15 metres. Six such machines were deployed after residents reported tree falls in areas like Teynampet, Virugambakkam and Adyar.
Pruning of branches that could fall over motorists or pedestrians and chopping of dead trees has been activated since February by zonal level officials and the tree-cutting machines had been pressed into service since then. “Since the wind speed is high, even healthy trees and branches could fall off. We are up to the task,” an official said.
Equipment was also put to use to remove other dangling stuff like electricity poles and high mast poles. For instance in the morning, a slanting Tangedco post on Velachery Main Road, which extends from the junction with Sardar Patel Road in Saidapet to Tambaram and comes under the Perungudi zone (14), was set right by corporation officials.
On Tuesday night, a high mast behind the Gandhi statue on Marina beach, was removed. As canals were brimming, corporation officials also pressed into service robotic excavators, amphibians and mini-amphibians for clearing them of garbage and other waste that accumulated.