Guwahati: Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has decided to write to the forest department, urging it to set up a joint task force to identify and remove dead and ageing trees that are at risk of getting uprooted and posing a threat to lives.GMC mayor Mrigen Sarania told TOI, “After the incident at Kalipur in Guwahati, where a dead old tree collapsed on a scooter, leaving a woman dead and another injured, we have decided to write to the forest department for constituting a task force for identifying and removing such trees to prevent similar incidents in future.”“The civic body has many things to look into in the city. However, GMC is not supposed to remove such dead trees. Whatever it may be, we have decided to write to the forest department, urging them to form a task force. We will identify the dead trees and the forest department will remove those,” he added.Until now, neither GMC nor the forest department has a record of trees that are dead or ageing, and threaten lives.Meanwhile, All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) president Utpal Sarma said the death of the student cannot simply be blamed on fate.“The dead tree at Kalipur had been standing there for a long time and should have been cut down and removed much earlier in the interest of public safety. Why did the departments concerned ignore it? They must answer.”He added that in many parts of Guwahati, numerous dead trees, open pits, and dangerous spots remain as deadly traps for the public. “The govt wakes up only after lives are lost, and only then do departments become active,” he added.
