VietNamNet Bridge – HCM City's Parks and Green Trees Company has asked the city to establish a supporting fund to aid victims of fallen trees.

Workers from HCM City's Parks and Green Trees Company clear a fallen tree in Ben Nghe Ward. The company has asked the city to set up a fund for victims of fallen trees.

The move came after a lot of trees fell due to heavy rains in the rainy season, causing damages to humans and property.

The rainy season often begins in May and ends in November.

Only on May 28, three fallen trees had damaged two cars, two motorbikes and an electricity pole on the streets of Le Loi, Phan Viet Chanh and Xo Viet Nghe Tinh.

On May 31, a tree branch fell near the 30/4 Park injuring three people, including a four-year-old girl.

The company said that the cost of supporting people, who faced damages because of fallen trees has been increasing year by year.

Investigations by the company revealed that it had spent around VND250 million (US$11,800) to compensate the victims of fallen trees last year, three times higher than 2012.

The company's representative said that the impacts of climate change, such as unusual developments of storm, tropical pressure system and whirlwind, were also to be blamed for the increase in fallen trees.

As lots of trees grew in the city, the company faced difficulties in taking care of them, he added.

The company is taking care of more than 90,000 trees planted along the streets, residential areas and parks.

In the first quarter of this year, the company had pruned the branches of over 6,200 trees.

Pham Sanh, a former lecturer of HCM City National University, said that Viet Nam has till now failed to actively prevent tree fall.

"We just use our senses and experiences to predict which trees will fall, and this method results in poor effectiveness," he noted.

Other countries use modern machines to inspect trees and soon get rid of trees that have a high risk of falling, he added.

Getting rid of the high-risk-of-falling trees as early as possible helped in minimising damages to both humans and property, he said.

In a related move, the People's Committee of the city has approved a plan for the construction of parks and planting of green trees by 2020. The plan targeted that trees will cover an area of over 2,000 square metres.

Source: VNS