A fruitful life comes to a close at 90

A fruitful life comes to a close at 90
Vijay Times

He was at least 90 years old. But as healthy as any of his neighbours.

On Saturday afternoon, officials from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) cut him down within a few hours. His mistake: Shedding some twigs and leaves on the surrounding houses.

Confused? We are talking about a eucalyptus tree on 3rd Main Road in Chamarajpet, which was chopped for causing problems to people.

The crunching sounds of the axe and crackle of breaking branches echoed in the area, as the old tree was felled. With traffic coming to a standstill due to the fallen branches, passersby stood mutely engrossed in the spectacle.

According to residents, the old tree posed a threat to their safety. “During heavy rains and strong winds, branches had the tendency of falling on the road and on the roofs of the houses around it,” said one of them. Complaints had been registered by some residents about this issue, and even the Forest department had authorised the felling.

However, when VT reporters visited the scene, some residents cited other reasons. It is speculated that a private company had the tree removed because it was too close to their premises.

A year earlier, a gulmohar tree next to it had been felled by the owners of the same company, said residents.

The Forest department officials supervised the initial cutting, but left later on. Houses on the road reported power failure, as the branches had fallen on the power lines. “The power’s been gone since 11 am. Hopefully they will fix it soon, “ said a shopkeeper nearby.

Some neighbours said that it was better the tree was cut down. “Granted, it is one of the few eucalyptus trees in the area, but still, it was quite a hazard for us. We used to feel scared to step out during windy days,” said one of them.

For many others however, the felling of the tree was a sad event. “I grew up with this tree in front of the house. I feel so bad to see it being cut down. It feels like a part of my childhood has been severed,” says one resident sadly. Her mother said, “We don’t know why it is being cut.” One angry neighbour said “First they talk about the rainfall problems, then they go and cut down these trees. It is very distressing.” There is a government school just a few yards away from the felled tree. Said another resident of the area: “Perhaps it is better. The school children play here often, and we wouldn’t want any sort of danger to them.” “Nowadays it is much easier for people to cut trees. Before, one had to go directly to the Forest department. Now, there is a specially assigned ‘Tree Officer’ who deals with all these issues. The number of such cases is definitely on the rise. Not only in individual cases such as this one, but also in larger scale situations such as road widening,” said Rohan D’ Souza, an environmentalist belonging to the NGO ‘Hasiru Hasiru’.

Krishna Udpudi, tree officer, BBMP, said that the department would go for tree felling only if they receive complaints from the residents. “Normally, we see danger from eucalyptus trees if they grow tall as they can fall and cause problems to houses or people around. But our officers will definitely take opinions of residents in the area before cutting that tree,” he said.

Udpudi further said that recently, based on such complaints and also for developmental works, around 10 trees have been cut down in Bannerghatta road and in Richmond road.

Workers uprooting the 90-year-old eucalyptus tree