Tree felling seems to have become rampant in the city. Environmentalists pointed out that the ‘death' of a tree that used to provide green cover opposite to the Maharaja's College ground is the latest in the series of such incidents.
People who regularly travel through the M.G. Road expressed doubts that certain vested interests might have used illegal methods that resulted in the falling of the tree.
Rakesh K., a marketing professional, suspected that mercury would have been used to kill the tree.
“I feel that those who wanted to remove the precious tree would have used some chemicals on the surface roots to bring it down,” he said.
S. Sitaraman, environmental activist, said that five milligrams of mercury could easily accelerate the drying up of a tree having a circumference of 20 inch.
He said that the poison would trigger a chemical reaction, resulting in the death of the tree.
C.M. Joy, secretary of the All-Kerala River Protection Council, said that people involved in tree-felling destroyed trees by chopping off the branches on the lower portion, in the name of pruning. Environmentalists said that trees would come down when the upper portion became heavy.
They also recalled that a tree near Shenoy's Junction was also brought down in a similar way a few weeks ago.
Tree felling was also reported from various areas, including Park Avenue and Palarivattom, in the last five months. Officials of the Forest Department in Ernakulam admitted that tree fellers used a special liquid to kill the natural growth of a tree. But the Department had no mechanism to trace such activities, they said.