And the tree goes to...

And the tree goes to...
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Come Monday, 25 full-grown trees along Seshadri Road and Palace Road will come under the hammer. The highest bidder will cart home a truckload of timber. Sounds ironical? Especially since the BBMP had recently mooted translocation of trees instead of felling them. However, the BBMP’s new mantra is — ‘Old and deep-rooted trees will be felled, while juvenile ones will be translocated’.
Blame the matrix of underground cables. The BBMP is finding it difficult to uproot trees along its four roads — Race Course Road, Seshadri Road, Palace Road and Kasturba Road, slotted for widening.
“We have about 500-odd trees that need to be shifted out of the four roads. However, we are looking at translocating only juvenile trees,’’ said Krishna Udapudi, tree officer of BBMP.
Are infrastructure projects elbowing out greenery from the city? The answer seems lost. But the BBMP seems to be taking the middle path. “On Race Course Road alone, we have mapped 42 trees, which will be removed and replanted in a nearby tree park. However, we will also lose an equal number of trees as they cannot be extracted without disturbing the utility lines and underground cables,’’ said Udapudi.
Monday’s auction will see giant trees of peltophorum, rain tree, gulmohar, and tamarind being felled and sold.
The slew of ongoing infrastructure projects — from flyovers, underpasses, roads to expressways — is a cause of concern to tree lovers. “I believe every tree removed can be replanted. It is time to earmark slots along the highways, in the parks and open spaces to rehabilitate the trees. We can do a China or a US, by going in for massive tree replantation in small pockets of the city,’’ said Dr Vasant Kumar, former director of horticulture. The BBMP has identified a slot for 60 trees in Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain. “We are hoping to identify many slots as translocation is laborious and transportation to far off places not practical,’’ said Udapudi. Experts also vote for transforming lawns and gardens into ‘woodland parks.’ “Trees improve the air quality and house diverse species of birds and animals. Some resorts in Bangalore are buying full-grown coconut trees paying Rs 15,000 per tree, as they cannot wait for years to grow trees,’’ added Kumar.