The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Tree falls on jeep killing policeman

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 09, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tree falls on jeep killing policeman

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, NOV. 8 . A huge tamarind tree on Cathedral Road crashed on a police jeep this afternoon, killing the policeman behind the wheel.

P.Selvaraj, 48, of Ashok Nagar police station, was driving Stephan Raj, Inspector of Police (Law and Order) to Poes Garden when the tree came crashing down. The vehicle was completely damaged. Selvaraj sustained serious head injury and died on the way to hospital. The inspector suffered injuries.

As workers sawed the limbs of the huge tree and cleared the shards of glass, traffic was diverted for a while much to the annoyance of motorists. .

"Even at 5:30 p.m. the junction below the Gemini flyover was jammed. It took me around 20 to 30 minutes to pass the junction," said one commuter. "I thought it was crowded because of the Diwali rush."

The urban forestry wing of Chennai Corporation had last year identified rotting avenue trees in various parts of the city and these were being cut one after another. A couple of months ago, the Corporation Commissioner asked zonal officers to remove dead trees in their areas. Officials had identified more than 40 such trees in various parts of the city and removed them.

The civic body has received requests to remove more than half a dozen dead trees in each zone.

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