‘BBMP cutting trees citing monsoon as an excuse’

‘BBMP cutting trees citing monsoon as an excuse’

Deepa Kurup

On World Environment Day, a look at the fate of trees

30 trees have fallen in the city in the past week

BBMP removes 317 trees

BANGALORE: Consider this. As many as 30 trees have fallen in the eastern and southern parts of the city alone in the past week leading up to the monsoon. Besides unleashing havoc on already traffic-choked roads and being dangerous, these numbers also point at lack of action and forethought on the part of the authorities and may well be symptoms of some larger malaise.

Sources in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike say that in the past month they have removed 317 trees as part of their monsoon preparation and have had to attend to 75 cases of tree fall. Besides performing “tree surgery” and identifying dead branches or trees, they have also formed round-the-clock squads in eight zones in the city.

The East, West and South zones of Bangalore — which have about 2.3 lakh trees in total — have been identified as the areas prone to tree fall. “In these specific zones we have vigilant squads who will clear the area within an hour or two.

“We have been working to prevent it ,but heavy rainfall may force even the healthy ones to fall,” says S. Shekhar, Tree Officer, BBMP.

However, environmentalists and citizens complain that the authorities are dragging their feet on pre-emptive work and indiscriminately cutting trees citing the monsoon as an excuse.

“Detailed field studies must be done to identify them and tree surgery must be performed. Cutting a tree must be the last resort,” says the former forest official Neginhal. The term surgery refers to the process of treating diseased trees by removing damaged parts and strengthening them.

While the BBMP stresses on preventive measures, experts say that there is more to this issue. Besides fundamental problems such as concreting areas around trees thereby not giving enough space for the roots to develop, Mr. Neginhal says that the authorities add to the problem by pruning trees unscientifically. “To create more road space, I have seen several trees that are cut unevenly. This makes it heavier on one side and it will fall,” he explains.

However, Mr. Shekhar maintains that only dead and diseased trees have been falling and sometimes soil loosening can also aid the fall. Mr. Neginhal feels that trees are quite strong left to themselves. “Last year, more electric poles fell than trees. Trees don’t simply fall. People heap leaves near trees and burn them. Simple things like that cause long term damage to the tree,” he asserts.