Lessons from tree fall: city to have only hardwood type

Lessons from tree fall: city to have only hardwood type
New Indian Expess

BANGALORE: In the rains that have fallen, and consequent damage to the trees, Jayanagar, Indiranagar and Banashankari together account for half of the trees that rains claimed on a single day in May.

Out of 121 trees that were uprooted, 32 trees were in Jayanagar, 26 in Indiranagar and 18 in Banashankari. In other words, Jayanagar alone accounted for 27 percent of trees that fell. All the trees together yielded 48 tonnes of firewood, according to the data compiled by the Bangalore Forest authorities.

Forest officials have analysed the data and found that most of the trees that gave in to gusty winds were softwood species. Large number of trees planted in recent years in the City are fast growing softwood specifies.

Conservator of Forests, Bangalore, V Rangaswamy told this website's newspaper that it is the recently developed areas that have reported maximum number of tree fall.

These areas have many fast-growing trees of softwood variety, which cannot withstand high velocity winds. Malleswaram, Saswathanagar, Katriguppe and Lalbagh areas, however, have reported less number of tree-fall.

In some cases, hardwood trees too have given in to winds. This, according to Rangaswamy, is because of indiscriminate construction activities in the city, which have hindered the horizontal spread of roots. "Roots are chopped off while digging the ground, which weakens the tree," he explained.

Of the 121 trees that rains have claimed, 70 were Peltaphorum followed by 20 Spathodia, 12 Gulmohar and 10 Jakaranda. Of the others that fell, four were Rain Trees, three Mellingtonia, and one each was Sissoo and Dalichandran.

The Forest department has drawn some lessons from the spate of tree fall and has decided to plant only hard-wood species. Rangaswamy gave names of some of the hard-wood species that the authorities will plant: Neem, Mimusops Elengi, Jamoon, Cassia Fistula, Bauhinia Purpurea, Butea Monosperma, Mahagony, Pongamia Pinnada and Terminalia.