Unscientific pruning, neglect threaten Thiruvananthapuram’s tree wealth

Trees have no voice, and they often die slowly and silently, chiefly due to human neglect or harm. Thiruvananthapuram city, in particular, risks losing its abundant tree wealth largely unnoticed, in barely perceptible stages.

Over the decades, the city has lost scores of legacy trees, including century-old ones lining the leafy Kowdiar-Museum avenue. Improper maintenance and unscientific pruning, exacerbated by extreme weather events such as heavy rain and scorching heat, were the main causes.

Public parks in the city have also lost mature trees that served as community hubs, providing generations with a shady place to sit and chat, meet friends, read, write, or while away long periods of lassitude.

Several tree-lover groups in the city are lobbying ardently for the protection of old trees, primarily on social media, stressing their collective value to society, given their potential to sequester carbon, absorb water, and provide a natural form of ambient cooling by acting as nature’s heat sinks.

The southwest monsoon this year has exacted an unusually high toll on the city’s tree wealth. Many top-heavy trees have fell onto the road in heavy rain, including a decades-old one in front of the Trivandrum Press Club.

Falling tree branches have blocked roads during the rush hour and damaged vehicles, prompting the Fire and Rescue Services department to step in.

Raveendran, former director of the Thiruvananthapuram zoo and a landscaper, says the lack of timely pruning and pollarding often renders large trees unstable during the rainy season, when large foliage-covered branches become sodden and top-heavy.

Statutory authority

“Vertical and horizontal clearing of avenue trees help extend their life span. Ideally, trees in public spaces, including parks and streets, should fall under a single statutory authority. Currently, multiple departments, including Forests, Public Works, and the Municipal Corporation, are entrusted with tree maintenance and often operate at cross-purposes. For one, the KSEB should optimally resort to scientific pruning to prevent trees from touching or falling over powerlines,” he says.

Anitha Shanthi, coordinator of the Tree Walk Collective, which advocates for protecting rare trees, says authorities should prune trees with the “weight equilibrium in mind”. She urges authorities to urgently organise a scientific survey of trees, focusing on their health, stability and contribution to the ambient climate and aesthetics. Ms. Shanthi adds that the Kerala Forest Research Institute and the Agriculture department can provide scientific expertise.

The director of the department of Museums and Zoos, P.S. Manjula Devi, says the government has contracted private individuals to maintain the trees, to ensure the well-being of walkers who frequent the expansive botanical garden grounds. “Zoo authorities supervise the pruning process, which starts well ahead of the monsoon,” she says.

(The writer is an intern at The Hindu, Thiruvananthapuram)