The disappearing greenery of the Garden City

The disappearing greenery of the Garden City

Swathi Shivanand

Just as in other cities, as land prices zoom skywards and every inch becomes precious, Bangalore is fast losing its green cover

# The metropolitan region has 7.64 per cent green cover
# About 1,000 trees will be felled for the Metro Rail project



PROTECTING GREENERY: file picture of members of Hasiru Usiru wrapping cut outs in the shape of protective hands on trees along a section of RV Road in Jayanagar. — Photo: K. Murali Kumar

BANGALORE: Urbanisation and preservation of green spaces — are they mutually exclusive? Can we, as we let the landscape of our city change, attempt at the utopian concept of harmony with nature?

Bangalore's planners do not seem to think so, according to disheartened environmentalists, who accuse the authorities of pushing populist growth over alternative methods of attaining that same progress.

Why else would more than 70 fully grown trees, part not only of the natural landscape, but also cultural heritage of Malleswaram, be mercilessly felled to make way for an underpass which most residents protested against? Even now, after the construction work has begun, some environmentalists rue the missed opportunities. "There were so many alternatives that could have been tried in reducing the traffic flow. But it seemed like the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had already decided on the underpass," says Rohan D'Souza of Hasiru Usiru.

Shrinking greenery

With saving green cover becoming the last priority when development projects are planned, trees are regularly facing the axe. The Metro Rail project will devour nearly 1,000 trees. Road widening projects across the city will claim hundreds more. On an immediate basis, you will see the large towering trees on Race Course Road, Seshadri Road, Palace Road and Nrupathunga Road face the axe.

Promises of afforestation are bandied about whenever the issue of loss of trees comes up. There is talk of the columns of the Metro Rail prettified with creepers. Some 15,000 seedlings have been planted by agencies such as the Forest Department, the Bangalore Development Authority and the BBMP in the fringes of the city as part of the Metro's afforestation scheme.

But what about the giant trees decades-old that are being axed? And will planting new trees in places far away from the city proper reduce the adverse impact of cutting existing trees?

"It will have no effect on the micro climate of the city," says Mr. D'Souza. Saplings planted in the city rarely survive as they are uprooted when footpaths are relaid or are not given that essential care for the initial years, he says.

Transplantation has become the new mantra for the BBMP. Krishna Udupudi, Deputy Conservator of Forests, BBMP, says that many trees will be shifted to surrounding areas and not actually brought down. The size and age of the tree are important factors in choosing the right candidate for transplantation.

The cost of the entire process might, however, be its undoing, says Gururaja Budhya, Secretary, Urban Research Centre.

Greenery

Apart from traffic decongestion projects, opening up the green cover for development has spelt the doom of Bangalore's trees. According to the State of Forest Report 2003, the urban sprawl of 2,190 sq. km of Bangalore Metropolitan Region has only 7.64 per cent green cover, which translates to a mere 168 sq. km.

"It is the entire process of physical planning of urban development that is to blame. The Master Plan for the city only regulates land use and every revision of the development plan will have reduced space for green cover," says Mr. Budhya.

The Comprehensive Development Plan for 1995, brought out by the Bangalore Development Authority, had earmarked 742 acres as Green Belt area.

Notwithstanding many violations and encroachments of this precious belt, the BDA in its draft master plan 2015 has further reduced it to less than 500 acres.

Will this myopic view of development leave us gasping for breath? Your call.