How green is our city really?

How green is our city really?

A census intitiated by the BMP and spearheaded by Hasiru Usiru will compile comprehensive information to help conserve the city's tree cover
The Hindu

COUNTING ON VOLUNTEERS Rohan: `The aim of the tree census is to create a sense of practical value among people rather than sentimental value'

Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of waking up one morning and finding a gaping hole in the visual landscape where just till the previous night an enormous hardwood tree swayed with its magnificent foliage? If you've lived in any growing city, particularly Bangalore, the chances that you haven't are next to nothing.

Ask environmental activists and they'll tell you that one of the biggest difficulties in the fight to maintain the tree cover is the fact that there is no real data on individual trees. And without such information, one never really notices the loss of a single tree; whether it falls during the monsoons or is felled for the sake of a development project.

But all of that is set to change, thanks to a tree census that is being conducted in all the areas under the jurisdiction of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. Initiated by Krishna Udapudi, Deputy Conservator of Forests on a stint with the BMP, the census is being spearheaded by an environmental organisation called Hasiru Usiru and aims to gather comprehensive information on the number, kind and health of all trees in the city proper.

Complete documentation

Thus, by the end of the year, the city will finally have valuable information on where the tree cover is concentrated, the kinds of trees growing in different parts, which trees are at risk of falling and where more trees can be planted.

Moreover, while the official census of the BMP is limiting itself only to numbering the trees and measuring their girth and health, Hasiru Usiru is taking it one step further. Its volunteers are also noting down factors that contribute to tree fall. Thus, they measure the amount of open ground provided around each tree so that sufficient water can percolate to the roots, and observe the the kind of pruning done to it in the past, as improperly pruned trees can become overbalanced causing them to fall. Their census also extends to the fauna, and the number of nests on each tree.

Hasiru Usiru kicked off the census on Sampige Road in Malleswaram, and has gradually moved onto other areas too such as Vidyapeetha. Its volunteers have already made some very interesting findings. Almost none of the trees they surveyed have the requisite six feet by six feet space around them. Moreover, in most cases, non-indigenous species were more common than those native to Bangalore. Also, in the close to 500 trees they've surveyed so far, only a handful had nests or fauna of any kind.

Besides creating a database for more effective policing, the group is also trying to reach out to the community through the census and enlist their aid in the cause. "Whenever we go to a particular place and start the census people come up and talk to us out of curiosity," says Seshadri, another volunteer participating in the census. "We use that opportunity to talk to them and make them understand that these trees belong to them and they must take initiative in protecting them."

Adds Rohan: "The aim is to create a sense of practical value among people rather than sentimental value."

One of the biggest difficulties that the census is facing is a lack of enthusiasm from the public. "I had originally excepted many more people to volunteer to carry out the census, but the required numbers have not come forward," reveals Udapudi. According to Rohan, the census ideally requires about two volunteers with experience in each ward, assisted by at least a half-dozen others who can work under their direction. For this purpose, Hasiru Usiru has now begun to approach schools and colleges so as to find more volunteers. "The effort involved is not very much," asserts Rohan. "Volunteers would only need to put in about three to four hours of work each weekend." It also gives people a wonderful opportunity to get sensitised to the environment, he adds.

If you would want details on the census or would like to volunteer to conduct it in your ward, contact Hasiru Usiru on 99863 61987 or virtuallyme@gmail.com