PANAJI
Jurisdiction of multiple government departments and agencies over parks, gardens and public spaces in the capital city is hampering the upkeep and caretaking of roadside rain trees, of which at least two got uprooted in the recent rain fury causing much damage and even claimed the life of a teenager Aarti Gond.
Officials of multiple departments and agencies like the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), PWD, Forest, GSIDC, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL), Electricity Department and GSUDA among others have overlapping jurisdiction over these public spaces, thus leading to confusion and lack of accountability in the upkeep of these trees, several of which are ageing and need regular care and upkeep.
CCP Mayor Rohit Monserrate, meanwhile, told The Goan that the process of enumerating public trees is still in progress.
Two teams of the CCP and the Forest Department are on the job with the latter conducting the exercise along the entire Altinho hillock, he added.
"Simultaneously two dedicated teams of the CCP are carrying out the work of trimming and cutting branches of the trees. These teams do the job continuously throughout the year and not just pre and post monsoon," Monserrate said
Earlier this week, the Forest department had completed the assessment of the trees alongside the Miramar-Dona Paula Jack de Sequeira road enlisting 75 of them for trimming and 16 dangerous ones for possibly felling.
"This report is under the consideration of the CCP and the State administration including the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Deputy Collector), who ultimately is responsible to authorise the felling of trees which pose a danger to life," a CCP official said.
Trees in the main city square and along the river-hugging Dayanand Bandodkar Marg from Miramar right up to the Old Secretariat are currently being assessed and enumerated by a team of the CCP with technical support of the Forest department.
Meanwhile, Botanist, Miguel Braganza, opined that it is crucial that the road side trees and those in Panaji's gardens and parks are brought under the jurisdiction of a single authority.
According to Braganza, the large rain trees need to be regularly trimmed of the dead branches and sometimes even the good ones need to be chopped to ensure tree canopy balance.
