Delhi L-G Saxena launches drive for pruning old trees in Connaught Place

Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena on Friday launched a drive by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) for pruning of old trees in the city's Connaught Place area.

The move comes in the wake of at least 77 trees being uprooted, some of them decades old, in Lutyens' Delhi in the fierce thunderstorm and heavy rains that lashed the capital on May 30.

"This morning, launched the scientific pruning of overgrown and dead branches of old trees at CP by NDMC. Exercise was undertaken during off hours to avoid inconvenience to people. This will ensure improved tree health leading to lesser uprooting and falling of branches in storms," Saxena tweeted.

According to data provided by the NDMC, the Lutyens' Delhi area has lost as many as 1,813 trees since 2015. Officials claimed that around 300 heritage trees were also lost between 2015-16 and 2021-22.

Indigenous tree species such as neem, peepal, pilkhan, jamun, arjun, khirni and imli among others were planted in the NDMC area when British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens was entrusted with the task to plan New Delhi in 1911.