Roadside trees in Fort City facing threat due to indiscriminate nailing
VELLORE:
The next time you see an advertisement board nailed to a roadside tree, it means the tree is facing a slow death. Display boards nailed to trees are a common sight in various parts of the district. But this indiscriminate nailing on trees, according to environmental activists, acts like ‘slow poison’ to the trees.
Several commercial establishments, educational institutions and tuition centres have turned roadside trees into their advertisement spaces. In fact, it is difficult to see a tree free from advertisement boards. Even the age-old trees near the Collectorate, District Police Office, District Combined Court Complex and Corporation Office face the brunt of indiscriminate nailing on to them.
The silence of the law enforcing agency and ignorance of the public has given free hand to the commercial establishments to abuse the trees. The officials have also failed to adopt health management of the trees.
Two persons were found busy hammering the billboards of a private firm onto the trees in and around Sathuvachari in Vellore City on Tuesday. When inquired, the duo said that they have been asked to put up 100 billboards to promote the new offer of their firm. “The billboards put up on lamp posts are damaged or removed within a couple of weeks. So, we prefer to put up the boards on the trees. We have also obtained permission from officials to nail the billboards on the trees,” said one of them.
Cementing around the trees, wiring and erecting lamps on the trees would also amount to abuse of trees. It would prevent the supply of nutrition and water to the roots and subsequently result in the decay of the roots leading to the slow death of the trees. “Tree abusers should be instructed to plant and grow trees for nailing,” said R Raja Rajan, president of the Rotary Club of Vellore (North).
Nailing is a cause of concern. It should be addressed to protect the existing well grown trees and young saplings to preserve the biodiversity, opined trustee and founder member of Nizhal, an NGO based in Chennai, Shobha Menon.
Nailing, according to the environmentalists, would cause serious damage to the bark of the tree. It is the first line of its defensive mechanism – compartmentalisation – that seals off the wounded part. Repeating nailing weakens the protective mechanism to heal the wound to the bark. It will ultimately prevent food and water supply to the branches. The wounds will also turn into an entry point for bacteria, tree borer insects and fungus into a healthy tree.
The tree abusers retain the nails. “One can find at least 100 nails on well grown trees due to indiscriminate nailing on the species. It will turn into a slow poison and over a period of 6 months to 1 year, the tree will die,” said Dr T D Babu, trustee of Nizhal.
Officials of the Vellore Corporation were not available for comment.
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