Title - Railway trims trees in East Tambaram to prevent power outages

Residents appeal to railway administration to lay underground cables

Southern Railway officials on Monday started trimming the branches of fully grown avenue trees in Railway Colony, East Tambaram, to prevent incidents of power tripping and related problems.

Residents, meanwhile, have appealed and asked the railway administration to consider laying the cables underground.

The railway administration maintained they were only pruning those branches coming into close contact with the overhead high- and low-tension power supply cables. This was not only a preventive measure, but was also in response to requests from many of the 700 families living in the colony quarters.

“The trees are massive and are more than 60 years old. The Railway Colony was created in the early 1930s or even a little earlier. Some of the massive trees along the streets are as old as the colony,” said T. Manohar, a third-generation resident of East Tambaram.

Railway staff said when the branches fell, the power supply cables snapped and the outage resulted in burning of cables in the quarters.

They would not uproot the trees, the officials said, adding, the administration was fully aware of the importance of huge, shade-giving trees that form a canopy over the Railway Colony.