Dried-up trees pose threat to students on Punjab varsity campus

Dried-up trees tilting dangerously over benches at the Student Centre on Panjab University campus are posing threat to students and staff. Students fear that these trees may fall anytime in heavy rain and can be life threatening, like the mishap in 2022, when a 250-year-old tree fell on students, leaving one dead and many injured.

The area comes under Panjab University construction office (horticulture division) and demands immediate action. “A proper audit should have been conducted by the authorities before the start of every new season. These dried-up trees are posing direct threat to those who sit beneath it to get some relief from the scorching sun,” said Aditya, a student. Another student added, “A branch of this tree fell recently during light showers, but luckily no one was injured. Besides conducting a proper audit, demarcation of such trees should be conducted or some efforts to preserve or prune these should be initiated,” said Aadil, another student.

On a regular basis, the area attracts students who sit here for hours. Not only the students, but the campus staff also sometimes organise their meetings here. “This is like a heritage and proper attention is needed to preserve such trees. I don’t know when the trees were pruned around the Student Centre. This surely needs proper attention,” said a staff member, asking for anonymity.

The green policy of the university includes the activities undertaken by the horticulture division, sometimes in collaboration with different departments to maintain the ecological balance and biodiversity available on the campus. Of the total 550-acre (Sectors 14 and 25) campus, a total of 56 per cent (Sector 14) and 52.2 per cent area (Sector 25) is green area. The horticulture division has planted approx 32,000 trees and shrubs in 2019-2020 and more than 28,000 trees and shrubs in 2020-21.

Chandigarh