The 150-year-old tree was uprooted with the help of a JCB on Thursday. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)A 150-YEAR-OLD heritage tree that stood inside the premises of Vatika School for Deaf and Dumb children in Sector 19 was uprooted by the Chandigarh Administration on Thursday.
On Thursday, a team from the Horticulture Wing of the Chandigarh administration uprooted the heritage mango tree inside Vatika school, after an earlier survey had deemed it to be over mature.
The survey had been necessitated after a 250-year-old heritage Peepal tree fell inside Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, on July 8 killing a 16-year-old student and leaving several others injured.
Junior Engineer (JE) of UT’s Horticulture Wing, Baldev Raj, said, “We received permission from Chandigarh’s Forest and Wildlife Department to axe the over matured heritage mango tree in Sector 19. We uprooted it with the help of a JCB machine. There was no point in keeping it in the soil as it could have become dangerous for the safety of people. Earlier, we had pruned the tree.”
Subscriber Only Stories
A committee under the Chandigarh Administration had recommended the axing of at least two over matured heritage trees, and pruning the branches of three more on Tuesday, after a survey of all heritage trees by various teams. At least 30 heritage trees were surveyed by the administration.
“After thorough examination of all aspects, the survey committee recommended pruning the branches of three heritage trees — including one at Sukhna Lake — and the felling of two over matured ones in Sector 19 and 23. The committee deemed them to be dangerous, following which the recommendations were given,” a senior official of the administration said.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
