State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon has directed officials to take action to avoid the falling of road side trees in a bid to mitigate possible hazards in the Metropolis and suburban areas, officials of the Ministry of Defence said.
A range of important issues including protecting human lives and property, and maintaining uninterrupted day-to-day lives of people during emergency situations were taken up for discussion during a meeting at the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) earlier this week, they said.
The State Minister gave instructions to the officials to prepare a proper system which would ensure trees that are most suited and of good quality are planted in suburban areas in the future.
As a short-term solution, the State Minister advised officials to commence programs, especially in the Colombo Municipal Council limits after conducting proper studies.
He said that the support of the Civil Defence Department could be provided in this regard.
He also directed officials of the National Building Research Oragnization to obtain technical assistance from the institutions such as the Department of National Botanical Gardens and the University of Peradeniya and carry out studies along technical methods used by countries such as Singapore to identify trees at risk of falling in suburban areas and to prepare a long-term solution to prevent such incidents.
Officials representing the Disaster Management Centre, Ministry of Local Government, National Building Research Organization, Department of National Botanical Gardens, Department of Forestry, Department of Meteorology, Central Environment Authority, Urban Development Authority, Road Development Authority, University of Peradeniya and Sri the Lanka Army participated in the discussion.
It has been identified that more than 300 trees, within the Colombo Municipal Council areas pose a potential threat to the people and properties and a special committee has been appointed to look into the matter immediately, the Minister said.
“There are more than 100,000 large trees within the CMC areas and 300 of them have been identified as a clear threat to people or properties,” Tennakoon said.
However, he said that the special committee appointed to look into the issue, will assess the extent of the threat and give a report. “It may be the pruning of branches or the complete removal of the trees,” he said.
As a short-term solution, the State Minister advised officials to commence programs, especially in the Colombo Municipal Council limits after conducting proper studies.
The Minister’s reaction comes barely days after a tree collapsed on State-owned passenger bus in Kolluptiya killing five persons and injuring many others. (LB)
