SHILLONG: Questions have been raised over the delay in cutting leaning and weak trees in parts of the city after identifying them besides taking other measures of disaster preparedness.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner PS Dkhar said on Saturday that a few months ago the Forest Department was informed about the need for identifying the vulnerable trees.
Dkhar admitted that he had received letters from concerned citizens to cut the weak trees following which he took up the matter with the department.
When contacted, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force CP Marak said the process of identifying leaning and vulnerable trees was on.
“We are on the job and the accident near Raj Bhavan, which was unexpected, is a wake-up call for all,” Marak said.
According to the forest official, the uprooting of the Raj Bhavan tree was an isolated case and there was no inkling of what was in store.
Another cause for concern is the weak electric posts as they pose a threat during heavy wind and rain.
The deputy commissioner said the issues related to weak electric polls and vulnerable guard walls of both public and private buildings were taken up with the departments concerned for necessary action.
“From time to time these issues were discussed in several meetings,” he said.
The deputy commissioner called for collective efforts of land owners and individuals, besides government agencies, to have better disaster preparedness.
Meanwhile, in a statement to the media, the officer in charge of SDRF appealed to the general public not to crowd a site of incident in future “as this not only hampers the efforts of SDRF and other emergency services to make such site of incident safe but more importantly it poses a great threat to the public”.
