India News | Cyclone Amphan: KMC to Calculate Uprooted Trees That Cannot Be Replanted, Auction Timber
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon begin the exercise of counting the number of trees uprooted during cyclone Amphan that cannot be replanted, and auction the timber in due course of time.
Kolkata, Jun 7 (PTI) The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon begin the exercise of counting the number of trees uprooted during cyclone Amphan that cannot be replanted, and auction the timber in due course of time.
Around 15,600 trees were knocked to the ground in Kolkata alone when the monstrous cyclone struck the metropolis and other parts of West Bengal on May 20.
Debashis Kumar, member (Park and Gardens) of Board of Administrators of KMC and former Mayor-in-Council, told PTI that the civic body is at present engaged in collecting dead wood and keeping them at designated spots -- off Red Road, Dhapa, Taratala and Tallah.
"Once the process of collecting the branches and tree trunks is over, experts will examine which parts of the trees can be used as timber and... auction them," he said.
Kumar said some of the felled trees belonged to the Mahogany and Sheesham species among others.
The proceeds of the auction will be utilised by the KMC to provide better public amenities, another civic official said.
Executive Engineer of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), Sudhin Nandy, said, around 60 trees that were uprooted inside Rabindra Sarobar area in the cyclone cannot be replanted.
Environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh said dead tree trunks and branches tend to attract bacteria and disinfectants should be sprayed on them regularly.
"Otherwise, the branches can decay fast. I am not sure if KMC is following these procedures," he said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)