After the torrential record-breaking downpour in the morning of 28th June, S Block had its share of problems, when a huge “Gulmohar” tree was uprooted in front of S 268.The big issue was, that it rested on O.H. livewires & the fear was that it may bring down a couple of poles & the wires may snap, thereby causing a massive damage to life & property.
As soon as we received the information through videos and photos from our guards and nearby residents, our team swung into action. The first call was made to the DGM of BSES & his team at about 7.15 am, requesting him to rush the team for switching off the electric supply. Next call was made to the S.O, horticulture, Akhilesh Singh & his deputy to send the team for cutting off the tree at the earliest possible. Police was also informed and all the seven colony guards were asked to be on standby to manage the traffic.
The tree cutting job is always outsourced by MCD & normally the team comes from West Delhi side. All the roads were blocked on that day. Somehow the team arrived with their tools & machines at around 11 am. The residents & M.C team were tense.
However, the job started & many heavy branches were cut off. Area had been cordoned off; cars had been removed. Thankfully, as reported in another article in this issue, S block roads were all dry, making the task simpler.
By 2 pm all the branches were cut off. However, the main trunk of the tree, which was almost 40 feet high, was still resting on O H wire. Workers refused to cut the main truck unless a hydra crane was called.
MCD staff raised their hands & expressed their inability to arrange the crane & asked the M.C of SBWS to arrange the same. We enquired from a few contractors for cranes but everyone refused. One person asked for an exorbitant amount, may be, just to put us off.
I then requested the DGM, BSES, Mukesh Kumar for his help & explained him the gravity of situation & strongly made a point that if the uprooted tree trunk falls, it will create havoc. Somehow, Mukesh agreed & started looking for a hydra crane. Finally, after several calls & running around, the crane arrived at 7.20 pm. In the meantime, somehow, we could retain the MCD team by taking care of them. After the arrival of the crane, it took another one hour to cut the main trunk, safely & pull out the tree from ground. Work continued till 10 pm to cut the branches & clear the road. It took another two days to clear off the massive tree branches & the garbage. We expressed our sincere thanks to team BSES, without whose help it was an impossible task.
