BBMP to give Bangloreans a breather

BBMP to give Bangloreans a breather
By: Bindiya Carmeline Thomas Date: 2010-09-01 Place: Bangalore




In a bid to control pollution levels, the civic body has taken to planting saplings in cemeteries, defence land

With space becoming a luxury in the city, the BBMP has taken to planting saplings in open spaces such as cemeteries and defence land.

The BBMP is on a mission to plant more saplings by the end of September in a bid to control the damage it has caused from felling trees.

Dr NL Shantkumar, a member of the Karnataka Forest Department and conservator with the BBMP, said, "We have planted 2.5 lakh trees, but now we also want to work on parks solely devoted for trees so that the pollution levels go down. Trees consume carbon dioxide that the vehicles emit."


The BBMP has planted 2.5 lakh trees and plans to plant another three lakh saplings by the end of this month

He added, "Planting them in cemeteries and other open spaces is the only alternative right now. By the end of September we will plant another three lakh saplings. So in another three years, these saplings would have grown into small trees."

Shantkumar added, "It'll take a lot of time for the carbon dioxide levels to come down. Besides, it will take 10 years for these saplings to mature into adult trees. With this initiative, we might be able to bring back the sparrows, that have disappeared from the city."

Akshay Hevlikar, director, Eco Watch, said, "BBMP needs to think about what kind of trees to plant. After a heavy downpour a branch could just fall and cause a lot of damage."

He added, "These people have no vision. We understand that planting more saplings will make up for the felled trees but it'll take years for them saplings to grow."

Leo Saldana of the Environment Support Group said, "The BBMP has felled so many trees. They may claim to have only felled 3,000 trees but our figures show that this isn't the case. They can plant as many trees as they want to but the damage has already been done."