Bengaluru: The age-old bamboo trees in Cubbon Park are being chopped to make way for new and different species of bamboo saplings.
The reason for this removal is that they recently flowered and this indicates they are dying. As per the life cycle of a bamboo tree at this stage they turn brown and wither away.
The horticulture department has decided to remove the dying bamboo trees and plant new saplings of different varieties.
A senior officer from the Horticulture department said that there are 150 clusters of bamboo trees in Cubbon Park, where each cluster will have more than 50 bamboo trees and they were planted almost 45 years ago.
For now more than 70 clusters have turned brown. “A few months ago, we noticed that the a few bamboo trees had fallen and were leaning to one side and realised that they had flowered and were old. We asked the urban forest department officials to inspect the trees. Once they examined, they declared that all the bamboo trees have become old and it is time to remove them. We had a discussion with the officials from the horticulture department and finally decided to remove them.”
Mahantesh Murgod, deputy director of Cubbon Park Horticulture department, said, “We are in the process of clearing the withering bamboo trees as they are not safe and it might fall causing injury to the public. We are also planning to get new varieties of bamboo species and fast growing varieties and these will be planted immediately once the trees are removed. We will ensure that the bamboo trees grow again but it will take a few years.”
Another official mentioned that the contract to remove the bamboo trees has been handed over to a private agency based out of Kolar and the cut trees are being sent back to Kolar.
“It will take some time to remove the trees, as the Bamboo trees are hard species and needs time to remove them. Once we remove these old trees, we will add manure to the soil before planting the saplings. Ten years is a must for the trees to grow to its usual height,” added the official.
