GO AHEAD, GO GREEN

GO AHEAD, GO GREEN
Bangalore needs infrastructure. It also needs its greenery. On World Environment Day, BT asks the experts how the balance can be struck
PRATHIBHA JOY & ANJALI MUTHANNA


THE Garden City looks anything but, what with roads being widened to decongest the city and trees being cut down to make way for the Metro. But is there any way we can make room for development but preserve our green heritage?
Akshay Heblikar, Director, Ecowatch
While we widen our roads, we have failed to regulate the number of vehicles on them, which is growing at the rate of 1,000-2,000 vehicles per day. Bangalore doesn’t have that carrying capacity. We can, at the most, accommodate 15-18 lakh vehicles, but statistics show there are about 35 lakh private vehicles on our roads. In our quest to decongest the city in terms of traffic, widen roads and build a Metro, we have lost a lot of our greenery.
Some sacrifices have to be made. But we have to compensate for every tree lost to concrete. We need to create more spaces like Lalbagh and Cubbon park, even if they’re not as vast. But we can’t stem the destruction of greenery if we don’t regulate vehicle ownership and give priority to mass transportation; a few thousand buses on the roads will take up less space than the 15 lakh cars. And fewer trees will have to be cut to widen roads.
Venkatesh, Environmentalist, Hasiru Usiru
Public transport is the only option. Alternatives to unlock the city should also include declaring no-car zones, nocar days and high taxes for single occupant vehicles. All this should get the populace to use public transport.
Most importantly, for every tree cut, another has to be planted. And though the BBMP has a tree officer who assures us it’s being implemented, we don’t know where. How does it help if they plant saplings elsewhere?
Swati Ramanathan, Co-founder, Janaagraha
The fact that trees are being cut can’t be helped because there’s no optimal solution. You can’t cut trees indiscriminately, but infrastructure has to
keep pace with the rate at
which the city is developing. We need a judicious balance: cut minimally and replace what’s been cut down. I’ve seen instances in which trees have endangered human life. People on two-wheelers have been caught in the roots of trees that jut out into the road. How do you prevent such things from occuring? You could extend the footpath till the tree root, but you’re losing out on road width, which leads to further congestion. We’re faced with tough choices that we have to offset.
Saad bin Jung, Wildlife expert
The biggest problem is that the forest department is not given critical status. Something like the Metro should be planned hand in hand with the forest ministry. If the government tells them that they’re planning something like the Metro, the forest department will give them alternatives. I’ve worked with the forest department till 1988 and they’re very progressive. It’s just that their hands are tied because they’re always running short of money.

THEN AND NOW: MG Road