Prune, don’t cut! But BBMP still barking up the wrong tree
In his view, the BBMP needs to take a cue from Europe , where the authorities go to great lengths to beautifully maintain their urban forests.
When the monsoon arrives, Bengaluru's roads are littered with fallen trees. Every year, the BBMP fails to do its bit to scientifically trim and prune the city's trees. It's a loss of valuable green cover, which also suffer when roads are asphalted, strangulating tree roots by covering their watershed area, making them prone to falling over in heavy rain and wind. Timely pruning is the answer, so why isn’t it done, ask Chandrashekar G. and Nikhil Gangadhar
As the trees came down like nine-pins once again in the storm that left Bengaluru drenched on Sunday, taking motorists and pedestrians by surprise, concerns about the BBMP and Bescom’s failure to scientifically trim and prune trees in the city have risen all over again.
Mr Kshitij Urs, green activist and faculty at the National Law School of India University, points out that vehicles and properties are damaged every year, both during the pre-monsoon and monsoon by falling trees, but the BBMP, the guardian of the urban forest, has been washing its hands off the problem and is confining itself to merely clearing the roads in the aftermath of the disaster.
“Is clearing the roads of fallen trees its only role ? Shouldn’t the BBMP ensure that every tree is protected in an urban set- up, as green cover is a good carbon sink and helps reduce global warming?” he asks pertinently.
In his view, the BBMP needs to take a cue from Europe , where the authorities go to great lengths to beautifully maintain their urban forests. “The trees are pruned before the spring and the cut branches are put into shredding machines and turned into flakes, which are used as mulching to protect their roots from the sun. With this the health of trees improves drastically and they need less water too. But the BBMP merely trims the trees unscientifically and Bescom just chops off branches without any logic, leaving the trees bent to one side. And this makes them vulunerable to heavy wind and rain and they come crashing down,” he regrets.
“As if that is not enough, the asphalting of roads strangulates trees by covering their watershed area, leaving them weak and prone to falling in heavy rain and wind,” Mr. Urs laments.
He also points fingers at the BBMP’s failure to do a scientific tree inventory. “When planting trees to compensate for what has been lost, the BBMP must choose trees that befit the 21st century and local environment as this not only increases rainfall but also reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. But it lacks funds for maintenance of the urban forest and barely has money for planting of saplings annually, and watering them twice during summer,” he notes sadly, adding that it is important for the BBMP to follow a standard protocol on managing trees in the city and budget the expenses required for the conservation of urban forestry.
Ms Vaidurya, a resident of Kasturinagar, too points out that tree care is a science. “The BBMP can use the services of experts from the Indian Institute of Science , the agriculture university or from the state horticulture department to help it with this. But it has just been groping in dark and only gets busy clearing fallen and uprooted trees,” she observes angrily.
500 trees damaged, 100 uprooted
Bengaluru Development Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. G Paramesh-wara, who on Monday visited the areas that bore the brunt of Sunday’s storm in the city, directed BBMP officials to immediately clear the roads of the fallen trees and instructed Bescom to restore power as soon as possible in these parts.
Dr. Parameshwara , who visited Vijayanagar, Malleswaram, West of Chord road among other areas, heard complaints from drivers and residents,who had suffered in the deluge and promised to look into them.
Later, speaking to reporters he said the heavy rain of the last couple of days had damaged over 500 trees in the city and around a 100 had been uprooted. “The state received more than 120 mm of rain in a few parts,” he revealed.
As many as 61 teams from various departments, including the BBMP and Bescom, were working to restore electricity and clear debris from the roads, he added. The minister claimed the BBMP was well prepared for the monsoon, that was due to hit the city in a few days. “I instructed the officials concerned to take necessary measures to tackle the monsoon at a preparatory meeting a month ago. This has prevented flooding in low-lying areas in the city,” he maintained, adding that as the rains also damage dangling cables, steps would be taken to lay the cable lines underground within two months.