These new trees won’t be gone with the wind (hopefully)

These new trees won’t be gone with the wind (hopefully)

SOUMITA MAJUMDAR BANGALORE : Every rainy season, scores of trees get uprooted, or their branches come crashing down. People and vehicles can get crushed; traffic movement can come to a chaotic halt.

The recent spell of rains saw 18 trees in areas like Magadi Road, Gandhinagar and Seshadripuram getting uprooted, most of them gulmohar trees.

With their bright red flowers, gulmohar trees have contributed to the charm of the garden city; now they are posing a threat.

Gulmohar and spathodea trees are the two species that dominate the sides of the City roads. They are a glorious sight in full bloom and look sturdy. But the soft roots make them weak, and they are vulnerable to heavy winds, and collapse frequently, tying up traffic into knots.

“Though we try our best to send people with vehicles and equipment to the spot immediately, traffic dislocation cannot be avoided,” said Krishna D Udapudi, Deputy Conservator of Forest, who is with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Another such delicate tree with soft branches found in the City is peltaphorum, with yellow flowers; and silver oak, which can grow to mighty proportions. Here size is misleading; the roots can be quite shallow and unable to withstand heavy winds.

With monsoon imminent, more tree crashes are in the offing.

Surely the BBMP can avoid planting more such good looking yet fragile trees? Udapudi says they are doing so. “We are slowly replacing these species with stronger, indigenous varieties. Around 20 to 30 years ago, we had introduced gulmohar, as people liked it. But, now we feel it’s dangerous as these trees have soft branches and roots and fail to survive severe storms. Thus we are now introducing varieties like acacia, mahogany and michalia champaka (sampige) and pongamia pinneta (honge) to replace those soft varieties,” he said.

Trees like acacia are preferred as these are of medium height and won’t fall easily. Another such variety is millingtonia, which will soon be flooding the City. “Uprooting of trees during the pre-monsoon period is a natural phenomenon and species like gulmohar are more sensitive to the vulnerable to heavy winds. We are undertaking afforestation and replacing these trees with stronger varieties like honge and mahogany,” he added.

Preventive measures are also being taken. “Throughout the year, we have identified several such sensitive trees and removed them. Removal of such trees have also been done based on public complaints,” said Udapudi. In the last oneand-a-half months, the authorities have identified 113 such trees and 400 to 500 branches all over Bangalore and have removed them.



Some facts about gulmohar

zz Scientific name: Delonix regia (also known as Caesalpinia regia or Poinciana regia)

zz Other names: Royal poinciana,flamboyant,flame tree,peacock tree.Grows in tropical or near-tropical climate

zz Popular as ornamental tree for the shade it provides

zz Australia considers it a “weed” because it prevents growth of other plants below it

zz Known as gulmohar in India because its bright red color reminds one of the rose (gul) and the leaf spread is rather like the spreading feathers of a peacock (mor).

zz It is the national flower of St.Kitts and Nevis.

zzThere it is called Poinciana after Monsieur de Poincy,the first French Governor of St Kitts who i troduced it there.