Rain uproots four trees in Greater Chennai Corporation limits

Rainfall in Chennai causes four trees to fall; 63,000 trees pruned in GCC limits this year; contract workers clear trees without safety gear, despite civic body's insistence.

Flash rain across the city on Friday uprooted four trees in Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits.

As per data from the civic body, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Friday, November 3, Alandur and Velachery received 7 cm of rainfall, Adyar recived 3.7 cm, Puzhal 2.9 cm, and Perungudi 2.7 cm. Moderate rain was also recorded in a couple of other areas. 

The trees that fell due to the rain on Grand Northern Trunk Road in zone 3, Vengadapathi Street in zone 8, Tiruvallur High Road at Ambattur in zone 7, and at Besant Nagar in zone 13 were cleared by contract workers of the GCC, official sources said. Sources added that the civic body had assigned 10 contract workers to each zone for clearing trees.

So far, in this financial year, roughly 63,000 trees had been pruned within the GCC limits, sources added. It is to be noted that as per the images posted on the civic body’s social media, the workers were not seen wearing safety gear while operating machinery to clear the trees. Official sources said contractors had been told to monitor this. Contract workers often skip putting on safety gear, despite the civic body’s insistence, as they respond immediately to any calls and, also, gloves could be inconvenient.