Kochi: Fire force battling record tree falls; railways worst-hit

Kochi: Incessant rains accompanied by strong gushes of winds are resulting in record number of trees getting uprooted across the state, with the railways forced to suspend train operations at least six times in the last two days.

The Kerala Fire and Rescue Services reported a record 841 tree-falling incidents in the last two days.

“A total of 841 major tree-falling incidents were reported till 9 am Friday from 9 am Wednesday. Though most fire stations are equipped with emergency tenders with inbuilt chainsaws, we’re procuring 375 chainsaws on a war-footing as we expect the issue to get worse in the coming days,” Prasad Ramakaimal, director (technical), told DC.

“The Kayamkulam-Alappuzha-Ernakulam coastal line is the most vulnerable stretch where we’ve identified numerous trees, mostly in private lands, with the risk of getting uprooted. Train services through the section have been suspended indefinitely due to the sole threat,” said a senior railway officer.

The latest mishap happened at Maririkulam on Friday when a tree got uprooted and fall over rail tracks, snapping the overhead electric lines.

“All trees that fell were the ones which we’d earlier identified as threat. While we’d cleared in ones on government lands, the private owners are objecting to pruning of the trees. We’d given them notices. We’ll cut the trees for free if the owners give the constant. We’re in touch with local authorities to clear such threat-posing trees near tracks,” he said.

One of the worst-hit regions in terms of uprooting of trees in heavy rains was Ernakulam. “A total of 60 such incidents were reported from 9 am Thursday to 1 pm Friday. We’ve deployed four Emergency tenders with chain-saw facility and other inbuilt equipment. As many as 769 people were evacuated during the period,” said a Fire Force official.