Kolkata looks for species selection to reduce windthrow of street trees during storms; Kolkata, India

New tree species for pavements after Aila rout - Kolkata - Cities - The Times of India
8 Jun 2009, 0357 hrs IST, Swati Sengupta, TNN
KOLKATA: Post Aila, the signs of devastation are still there in every nook and cranny of city streets. Heavy branches of uprooted trees hanging
dangerously on overhead wires and electric posts are still visible at many places. Strong winds mercilessly uprooted even big trees along with huge chunks of concrete footpaths.
After over 1,200 full-grown trees were uprooted on May 25, the day Aila struck Kolkata, the state government has now decided to experiment with the plantation of new variety of trees along the main city roads so that they can sustain the fury of storms in future.
The day Aila struck, the greatest damage was caused to trees like krishnachura, radhachura that are characterized by fiery red and bright yellow flowers.
Trees like shirish and pipal have also been damaged badly as they are tall, have huge spread-out canopies. Moreover, another reason for such trees getting uprooted easily is that their roots do not go deep into the ground since they grow fast. So, such varieties became so vulnerable in the face of such strong winds.