NDMC launches ambulance to protect ailing trees

The New Delhi Municipal Council has come up with a new initiative to protect trees from disease and enhance greenery in the national capital. In this bid, NDMC launches ‘Tree Ambulances’ to treat the ailing trees and give them a new lease of life.

NDMC has customised an eco-friendly CNG-based tree ambulance that is equipped with two water tanks with 750 and 250 litres of storage capacity, a high-pressure pump with a jetting hose, and provisions for carrying equipment, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, etc.

A team will be deployed on Tree Ambulance to check the health of trees and to attend to complaints or reports received from field staff related to pest infestation, hollowing or drying trees regularly for treatment, and washing trees daily.

An officer of the NDMC said that, as the NDMC area has such a rich green asset, including approximately 1.80 lakh trees, a tree ambulance will be used to treat the ailing trees with infestations of diseases, pests, termites, etc. The hollow trunk of trees shall be revived through surgery and treatment by utilising the vehicle to be used as a tree ambulance.

He added that the procedure of tree surgery starts with removal of the infected or hollowed-out part, cleaning the infected part with a brush, washing it properly, applying insecticides and fungicides to the infested portion, filling the hollow trunk with inert material like foam, and covering it with chicken mesh.

Furthermore, he said that to maintain and upkeep the environment of the New Delhi area, NDMC maintains approximately 1500 acres of green area, 135 green avenues, 10 major parks, 1400 residential colony parks, 50 roundabouts, 10 departmental nurseries, including 3 Hi-Tech nurseries, 3 international relationship memorial parks, many happiness areas, and prestigious gardens like Nehru Park, Lodi Garden, Talkatora Garden, Sanjay Jheel, Children Park (India Gate), Central Parks (Connaught Place), CWG Park, Shanti Path, etc.