After biker dies in tree collapse in Kalkaji, CM Gupta orders citywide pruning drive

New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) Within hours of a motorcyclist being crushed to death in a tree collapse in south Delhi’s Kalkaji, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta directed all road-owning departments to urgently identify and prune trees that may pose a risk to public safety during Monsoon, an official said on Thursday.

The directive comes in the wake of a tragic incident in the Kalkaji area, where Sudhir Kumar, aged 50, died after a tree collapsed on his motorcycle on a busy road after heavy rain. His daughter, Priya, travelling with him in the vehicle, was injured.

The Chief Minister directed that such trees be pruned, removed, or transplanted as per regulations, with priority given to areas witnessing high pedestrian or vehicular movement.

She emphasised that during the monsoon season, strong winds and heavy rainfall significantly increase the risk of large, unsafe, or decaying trees causing accidents, obstructing traffic, or damaging public utilities such as power lines.

“Proper maintenance and timely intervention will not only prevent accidents but also ensure smooth traffic movement and protect essential services,” said CM Gupta.

Stating that the safety of Delhi’s residents is the government’s foremost priority, the Chief Minister has ordered all departments to take immediate action.

She also instructed that responsible officers be designated in every department and agency to monitor the work, ensure compliance with safety standards, and submit timely completion reports.

“Our responsibility is to ensure such incidents never happen again. Every citizen deserves to live in a safe environment, and we will take every necessary step to make that happen,” CM Gupta added.

In a related development, Education Minister Ashish Sood hit out at former Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal for stating that “the condition of Delhi is deteriorating badly.”

Sood remarked that the government, which once claimed to lead an “education revolution” and called its leader a “man of development”, had left Delhi in a state of ruin, and now the AAP expected that in just five and a half months, everything would magically change overnight.

He said, “Our children are suffering because of their misdeeds. In Nithari, there are six government schools built before, during, and after their tenure. Since 2020, there have been continuous complaints of waterlogging in these schools. Whenever waterlogging occurs, students have to be sent home. Whose government has been in power since 2020? It was the so-called, self-proclaimed ‘man of development’ and ‘father of the education revolution.”

Sood stated that the previous government failed to bring any improvement to Delhi in ten years.

For the past five years, their MLA represented this area, yet no progress was made. Continuous waterlogging in these six schools has put children at risk of electric shocks. An inspection of the area revealed that there used to be a pond nearby, where rainwater would naturally drain, he said.

This pond, however, was concretised during Kejriwal’s government, which led to the waterlogging crisis. It was also discovered that the pond was paved over under pressure from the land mafia, he said.

--IANS

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