A compiled dataset from the long-awaited tree census of the city has shown that two lakh trees from 176 species cover 22 wards.While the wider census covers 46 wards, the two reports released so far pertain to 16 and six wards, respectively.The census includes trees within Municipal Corporation (MC) limits, excluding areas under jurisdiction of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust and the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority.The data goes beyond a simple headcount and records species, botanical family, age, height, trunk girth, health condition, economic importance and ownership of the land on which the trees stand.The two documents give totals of 1,30,863 and 69,137 trees, adding up to two lakh.The wider census exercise covers Ward 31 to Ward 73 and wards 91, 92 and 93.The census was carried out under the Tree Preservation Policy for non-forest government and public lands.Ludhiana is the first city in the state where such a detailed tree census has been done. The work was handed over to a private company through an open tender.In the city, around 2.5 lakh trees have been mapped so far, and the MC has paid about Rs 18 lakh for a survey of 70,000 trees, costing Rs 29 per tree. Officials said the digital data will help in checking illegal tree cutting, planning new plantation drives and improving future development projects.Environmentalist Jaskirat Singh urged the Municipal Corporation (MC) to make public the entire trees census. “We have been raising the need to protect the city’s trees and complete a proper census. Now that the data has been compiled, the MC should make it public so that citizens can know the status of green cover. The real task begins now. The MC and citizens must work together to protect trees, maintain their health and ensure that more trees are grown to strengthen the city’s green cover,” he said.The age profile of the combined dataset shows the largest share of trees is relatively young.Across the two reports, 58,916 trees are in the 11-20-year age group, followed by 55,334 in the six to 10-year group and 51,008 in the one to five-year group. Another 23,396 trees are aged from 21 to 30 years, and 8,206 fall in the 31 to 40-year category. There are 2,147 trees in the 41-50-year group and 993 trees that are more than 50 years old.The trunk-girth data is even more striking. As many as 1,87,861 trees have a girth below 50 cm, and another 11,528 are in the 51 to 100cm category. Only 432 trees fall in the 101 to 150 cm category and 107 in the 151 to 200cm category. A mere 72 trees have a girth of more than 200 cm.Most trees 11 to 20m tallThe height data shows that 1,03,369 trees are in the 11 to 20 metre category, making it the biggest chunk.Another 44,943 trees are 21 to 30 metres tall, and 40,835 are above 10 metres but below 11 metres in height, the reports say.According to the reports, there are 8,715 trees in the 30 to 40 metre height group and another 2,138 are taller than 40 metres.1.65 lakh listed as healthyThe health assessment has perhaps the most useful information for the MC.Of the total, 1,65,167 trees have been classified as healthy. Around 32,876 are listed as mechanically cut and 1,394 are dead. The reports identify 385 trees as average, 39 as dangerous in terms of their own health, 38 as diseased, 70 as poor and 31 trees as uprooted.The large number of mechanically cut trees need attention, particularly in view of the recurring complaints over excessive pruning and cutting of trees in the city.Ashoka, pukar, bakain among dominant varietiesThe census records a wide range of species. The Ashoka species has the highest share at 16,577 trees, followed by pukar (ficus) benjamina at 17,094, bakain at 6,788, saptaparni at 7,566, toon at 5,967 and neem at 5,417 trees.The report identifies 129 general and 176 named species entries in its detailed classification. It records 71.2 per cent indigenous and 28.8 per cent exotic trees in the main dataset.