Kolkata got its first tree ambulance last week. It is now one of the few Indian cities and the first major city of eastern India to have the facility.
The ambulance has been set up with the objective to look after trees under distress and needing emergency attention. City-based green experts have welcomed the initiative, pointing out that such a facility is important for a city which already has minimum greenery within major Indian cities.
The tree ambulance has been launched by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) with the MLA funds of Debasish Kumar, who also happens to be city’s mayoral council member in charge of parks and squares.
The ambulance, manufactured at a cost of Rs 12.5 lakh, is free for offering services in public places. It will be run by a non-profit. “Dial 18001236219, a toll-free number, to avail the facility,” said a KMC official.
“This is a first-of-its-kind facility not only in Kolkata but also in eastern India. We have launched the facility according to the recommendations of a tree census being carried out in the city. This is a pilot initiative and will be expanded once the demand grows,” said Kumar while launching the facility within Rabindra Sarobar, one of the few green verges in the city. Environment experts and several councillors of the civic body, along with senior officials, were present on the occasion.
The KMC-instituted pilot tree census survey, referred to by Kumar, has covered one-fourth of the city so far, and found that nearly six per cent of the trees in surveyed area are unbalanced. Of these, one-third stand highly imbalanced and run the risk of being uprooted, especially whenever a major storm hits the city.
“This is an extremely important addition to the city’s environment repertoire. Kolkata is already crippled with less-than-optimum greenery required for an international city, and the lowest among Indian metro cities. Hence, it is extremely important to properly maintain and manage whatever greenery we do have. The tree ambulance is expected to play a key role in this aspect,” observed Aniruddha Mukherjee, a professor from the environment science department of Calcutta University.
City short on green
Kolkata has been warming up most rapidly among 20 global cities and regions assessed by the latest United Nations report — 2.67 degrees Celsius in the last six decades. Maintenance of greenery is critical to keep the temperature rise within check.
According to the India State of Forest Report by the Forest Survey of India, Kolkata saw a roughly 30 per cent drop in forest cover between 2011 and 2021. There was marginal recovery in 2023, according to the report. But the green spread is still much less as the city falls far short of the World Health Organization’s recommended nine square metres (sq m) of green space per urban resident.
The city faces challenges like development triggered felling, pollution, and cyclones, impacting biodiversity. While conservation efforts, particularly planting drives, are underway, much needs to be done to prop up the city’s green quotient.
Grey truth about green
The KMC instituted study, implemented by a city based non-profit, finds that within 50 sq km of city area — almost one-fourth of Kolkata and covered under the survey so far — there are about 44,500 trees, with only four trees per 100 persons residing in the zone.
What adds to the misery over and above the low quotient of greenery in Kolkata, is the sorry state of the existing trees.
“We found that the root system of six per cent trees are exposed, concretisation has been done around the base of about seven per cent trees while other human interferences like nailing in trees, fixing hoardings on their surface happen in eight per cent trees. All these add up to increase vulnerability of the existing trees in the city,” admitted a senior KMC official.
“The fact that nearly 50 per cent of the trees are more than 20 feet further enhances the vulnerability, especially during a high intensity cyclone. Tall trees, unbalanced conditions and strong cyclonic wind is a lethal combination for the greenery of the city and every time a major cyclone lashes the city, hundreds of trees get uprooted,” pointed out Somnath Sen, a biodiversity expert who was earlier associated with the KMC. Experts point out that Kolkata is one of the most cyclone-vulnerable cities of India, being close to the Bay of Bengal and Sundarbans where most cyclones make landfalls.
Targeting vulnerable trees
“The newly introduced tree ambulance will look at highly vulnerable trees for which we have a list. We will soon chalk out a plan,” said Santanu Roy, a senior official in the parks and gardens department of the civic body.
“The ambulance is mainly mandated to respond to SOS calls for trees being uprooted, highly tilted and turning out to be a public risk, or, storm-hit ones. It will provide stabilisation to affected trees, pruning, safe relocation and even treatment through biocides and fungicides as required,” said Sanjay Jaisingh, representing the non-profit that will run the facility on behalf of KMC.
