By Amresh Gunasingham & Mavis Goh
A ROTTEN root and a tree crown that had grown unevenly caused a
30-year-old raintree to topple in front of the Istana at around 4pm
on Wednesday, bringing a traffic light down with it.
The National Parks Board (NParks), which looks after trees along
most roads and in parks and nature reserves, told The Straits Times
that as the rotten root, one of three that anchor the tree, was
underground, it went undetected by its officers who conduct regular
checks on the health of trees in Singapore.
The fallen tree, which was 18m tall and had a girth of 2.5m, was
also competing for sunlight with a larger tree right next to it,
which meant its crown could not develop evenly and into its usual
round shape. As a result, its weight was not evenly distributed,
NParks explained.
A combination of these factors, as well as the heavy rain which
loosened the soil on Wednesday afternoon, triggered the fall of the
tree, said Mr Simon Longman, director of streetscape at NParks.
NParks has deployed officers to conduct checks on other trees in
the vicinity, he added, although he could not say when the tree was
last checked.
NParks inspects every tree under its charge at least once every
three years.
