Lieutenant-Governor V. K. Saxena on Friday launched a drive to prune old trees in Connaught Place here.
The exercise, which will be conducted by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), comes in the wake of at least 77 trees being uprooted in Lutyens’ Delhi due to heavy rain and thunderstorm on May 30. Some of the trees were several decades old.
Mr. Saxena asked officers to complete the pruning exercise in the entire NDMC area within three weeks and undertake the exercise between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. to prevent inconvenience to people.
According to data provided by the NDMC, Lutyens’ Delhi has lost a total of 1,813 trees since 2015. According to a senior official, close to 300 heritage trees were lost between 2015-16 and 2021-22.
Mr. Saxena said the pruning of trees would not only enhance their life span but would also help improve visibility on the roads.
Weak roots
S. Chellaiah, Director, Horticulture Department, NDMC, said while some trees in the Lutyens’ area were found to have overgrown, the roots of many other trees had been weakened due to concretisation around them.
“Due to excess concretisation, the trees get deprived of water, which results in oversized canopies and disproportionate root-to-shoot ratios,” said Mr. Chellaiah.
He said weak roots make the trees prone to being uprooted when hit by strong winds.
A reduction in the size, weight and volume of the canopy is the only solution to bring the root-to-shoot ratio back to its normal proportions, Mr. Chellaiah said.
