Mysuru:  Mysuru City Corporation staff swung into action by clearing branches hanging dangerously and bringing down weak and dead trees from yesterday.

The action follows, after people expressed grave concern about the loss of life of a young techie when a tree came crashing down on the autorickshaw near ESI Hospital on KRS Road in which she was travelling.

Another reason is because of the heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds that have lashed the city since the last few days uprooting trees and bringing down branches, the MCC staff has intensified its operation.

A giant tree on Nilgiri Road near the footpath of the East Gate of Mysore Palace was removed yesterday.

The operation of clearing the tree was led by MCC’s Horticulture Department Assistant Director Muralidhar. The staff, with the help of a JCB machine brought the tree down.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Muralidhar said that the tree was almost 75-years-old and was completely weak and it could have come crashing down any moment.

“Hence, to avoid any untoward incident we took the decision of removing the tree. We sought the help of Traffic Police to stop the traffic on this busy road. The operation that began in the morning went on till evening,” he said and added “A big branch next to this tree has also been cut and we took the permission from the Forest Department.”

Further he said, “Even for cutting a small branch we need the permission of the Forest Department. First we have to apply for it and the process for approval takes a long time. Still there are nearly 50 to 60 such applications pending before the Department. This results in the delay of removing trees or cutting branches.”

According to Muralidhar, he personally went to the Forest Department and met the officials instead of waiting for the permission and asked them to come to the spot to clear the trees posing danger.

“In the first stage we have started the operations on Nilgiri Road and a few other prominent places,” he said.