City’s termite-hit trees get new lease of life : The Tribune India

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City’s termite-hit trees get new lease of life

A majority of the termite-ridden trees by the roadside in Sector 10, which is a stone’s throw from the UT Secretariat, are dying a slow death. Tribune pHOTO: PRADEEP TEWARI

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 10

About 20 per cent of the termite-ridden trees of the City Beautiful are going to get a new lease of life as an anti-termite programme to save trees, which will make double their life, is being launched in the city from tomorrow onwards. At present, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has been cutting such trees rather than adopting any preventive measure in advance.

City-based tree lover Rahul Mahajan said during a survey carried out by the MC, it was found that there were 1.64 lakh trees in the city in addition to the 20,000 being looked after by the UT Administration.

“About 15 to 20 per cent of these trees are ridden with termites. We are going to treat these over 30,000 trees by putting chlorpyrifos 20% on them. The trees to be treated are 20 to 25 years’ old and their age will be doubled by the treatment,” he said.

It will be started from Sector 19 tomorrow. The termite-ridden trees are available across the city. Even, tourist spots such as Rose Garden and Leisure Valley have a number of such trees.

“Why we should put the medicine only on termite-ridden trees? We should use it on all trees as a preventative measure to save trees and greenery in the city,” said he said.

He, along with volunteers, will carry out an awareness drive, following which the MC may pitch in. Earlier, he had replanted a number of uprooted termite-ridden trees. Following suit, the MC itself started doing the same at several places. Mahajan has also exhorted residents to let him know in case there is any termite-ridden tree in their vicinity. As per the horticulturist, 1,074 termite-hit trees have been axed by the MC and further, trees are need to be saved. The cost of saving these was negligible, only commitment was required.

He said this medicine should be put on them after every six months. It costs just Rs 2.80 per tree. That means in a year, it will cost only Rs 5.60 to save a tree. Meanwhile, officials of the MC’s horticulture wing was unavailable for comments.

1,074 termite-ridden trees axed by MC

City-based Rahul Mahajan has also exhorted residents to let him know in case there is any termite-ridden tree in their vicinity. As per the horticulturist, 1,074 termite-hit trees have been axed by the MC and further, trees are need to be saved. The cost of saving these was negligible, only commitment was required.