E-Paper
Census finds 104 rare species of trees in Pune city
PUNE The tree count in the city has reached over 47 lakh as the process of tree census is underway amid civic authorities documenting over 104 rare tree species in the city so far
PUNE The tree count in the city has reached over 47 lakh as the process of tree census is underway amid civic authorities documenting over 104 rare tree species in the city so far.
According to the civic officials, 98 per cent of the work of the tree census is complete. Also, the tree census of newly merged villages is likely to begin after the budget approval in February- March next year.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had allocated the tender of tree census to SAAR IT Resources Pvt Ltd in 2016.
According to the Environment Status Report (2019-2020) released by PMC, the census of 47,53,670 trees is complete.
“These species which are considered rare have been found from all over the city. The process of counting is still underway,” said Yogesh Kute, head geospatial, SAAR IT Resources Pvt Ltd.
According to the civic authorities, these 104 trees have been categorised as rare trees because they are less in number.
“These trees are classified as rare because only a few would be seen in the city. Trees such as African Mangosteen, Anjani, Dahiwan, Lal Zumbar, Silk floss cotton are not common,” said Ashok Ghorpade, head of PMC’s garden department.
He added that the number of extinct tree species could be known only after the census is complete.
According to the civic officials, almost all the green cover in the city’s original limits has been documented so far. “Almost 98 per cent of tree census is complete. Rest is pending because of the permission issues in the private properties,” said Ghorpade.
Meanwhile, PMC’s boundary has been extended twice after the geo-enabled tree census started in the city.
In 2017, the state government merged 11 villages into the PMC limits, while recently, 23 more villages have been merged into civic limits. The number of trees in PMC limits is expected to rise exponentially as the tree census in these newly merged villages has not been done yet.
“A fresh tender will be floated for the tree census in these newly merged villages. It will be done after getting the budget approval,” said Ghorpade.
