Blame game on fallen trees in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: To lift chopped trees or not to lift chopped trees – that is the question.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation says the electricity department is chopping branches and it has no role in the goings on. The power wing says it is GHMC’s trees that are falling on electric lines; so all they will do is chop the branches and it is for the GHMC to clear the mess.

Ms Sarah Agarwal of Sindhi colony said, “After the thunderstorm, electricity department personnel started chopping the branches and threw them on to the road. They don’t even move it to a corner. When I asked one of the workers to shift them, he asked me to call the GHMC.

When I called the GHMC call centre 155304, they just registered my complaint, but no one has come. Commuters are suffering from new road blocks created by electricity department.”

“While the branches were cut on Monday at Filmnagar, none bothered to clear it and the residents with difficulty made way for their vehicles to reach their houses. The game of passing the buck is going on between the two government entities, while the residents suffer.

Tree cutting itself is not scientific with the staff chopping branches indiscriminately defeating the basic purpose of having avenue trees and all this passes off in the name of lack of time,” added Mr. M.G. Gopal of Filmnagar.

A senior official with Discom explained, “The department does not plant or grow trees, it is done by GHMC. After heavy rains lashed the city last week, trees and branches fell on power lines and threw the transmission system out of gear for several hours. As part of pre-monsoon activity, we have hired men to chop the tree, it is the GHMC’s duty to clear it.”

GHMC urban biodiversity officer V. Damodar said it was the job of the electricity department to lift the chopped branches and transport the same. “They have hired contractors for the job,” he said. Yet there is no clarity on which department is responsible to lift the chopped branches.

The GHMC and the HMDA (urban forestry department) have no equipment or apparatus to inspect the brittleness of trees planted along the road side and in residential areas. The GHMC takes no measures to stop falling of trees, other than educating people about them. Even transplanted trees pose a danger.