Colombo trees no longer likely to create a major disaster: CMC

By Yohan Perera   

The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) yesterday assured that tress in the Colombo city are no longer a great threat to city dwellers and others as it is unlikely that these will cause a major disaster as the CMC has been removing and trimming trees in the city since early last year.   

Municipal Engineer Manoj Ranasinghe told Daily Mirror that heavy winds which was experienced during Thursday night would have created a major disaster if the CMC did not take action to trim and remove vulnerable tress in the city.
 
He said only two trees have fallen on the streets of Colombo that come under the CMC’s purview on Thursday night. “One tree down Maitland Crescent and another along Elibank Road had fallen on Thursday. The one in Grandpass which damaged few houses come under the purview of Urban Development Authority. In addition branches of few trees have been broken and fallen,” he said.   

Around 227 trees have been identified to be removed while another 334 trees with weak branches as at October 2023, have been earmarked to be trimmed. CMC Commissioner Palitha Nanayakkara said around 500 trees have been removed and trimmed to date.   

The CMC limits contain a total of 100,000 trees and all these trees fall under the purview of the council. Some of them are said to be 100 years old.