Bengaluru: Weathermen have predicted more rains over Bengaluru in the next few days as the city continues to reel under heavy spells of rain that began on August 14. The rains have tested the city’s fragile infrastructure and claimed over 350 trees and branches, according to figures accessed by Deccan Chronicle from the BBMP control room.
In May, when pre monsoon rains lashed the city, over 300 trees were lost. Till Friday night, the city has lost nearly 650 trees.
A control room official said, “On the night of August 14, the city lost 50 trees in the BBMP west zone. But the rain on Friday night was the worst as over 150 trees fell in the BBMP South zone alone.”
Bengaluru’s tree doctor Vijay Nishanth said, “It is not normal to lose these many trees, and we could have saved many of them. This shows that the city administration is not addressing the root cause and is not taking enough measures to avert trees from getting uprooted. We cannot totally stop trees from falling. But the numbers this year are big. It is strange that Bengaluru, which provides technological solutions to the world, is struggling to get its own problems fixed.”
On what the BBMP should do, he said, “The Palike should take up tree auditing. A separate wing should be formed for this. Tree pruning and trimming should be done scientifically.”
He said that the government should first invest on sonic tomograph machines which will help investigate the internal condition of a tree using sound waves. “With these machines, we can find out weak trees and bring them down immediately.”
BS Yeddyurappa slams BBMP, state govt
State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa, after inspecting rain-affected areas on Sunday, vented his anger against the inefficient BBMP and Congress-ruled state government. He alleged that their failure has led to the city getting constantly flooded.
He started his inspection from Sony Signal at Koramangala and then visited Sarvajna Nagar and other rain hit areas. The last time he went on an inspection, affected residents had cornered and questioned him.
He said that the inefficient government has not even bothered to fill potholes on roads.
