At a time when Bangalore and other emerging cities in Karnataka are rapidly developing they are also building a lot of pressure on our fragile ecosystems that actually are critical in sustaining all the developmental activities and projects. Especially the tree diversity in these ecosystems is even more important, not just for Bangalore, but for the entire state of Karnataka. This is because Karnataka consists of vast stretches of arid region, second only to Rajasthan. And these arid regions receive very less rainfall and do not support vegetation. And therefore it becomes even more critical and necessary to increase the green / tree cover in Bangalore and the entire state.
In addition to increasing the green cover it is also important to protect the existing flora across the state. Especially in cities like Bangalore it becomes even more critical to enrich the green cover due the ever-increasing population that is constantly building pressure on our ecological resources, especially the Water resources. Increasing the green cover with indigenous species & varieties will not only help in harvesting maximum amount of rainwater, but will also help enrich the groundwater resources through the natural process of percolation. Apart from enhancing the water resources we also need larger number of native tree species in and around Bangalore to sequester Carbon emissions that is being emitted from automobiles (vehicular exhaust), industries and various manufacturing units and other developmental activities and infrastructure projects such as construction of buildings, roads, fly-overs, etc., in & around the city. Hence, Trees are the most important component of any ecosystem since it is the Tree / Vegetation / Flora that determines its health & quality.
Bengaluru - once known as the "Garden City" - got the name due to its natural heritage in areas such as Malleshwaram, Basavanagudi, Gandhi-Bazaar, Jayanagar, etc. These are the core regions of Bangalore that should be exempt of any unwanted developmental activities and needs to be retained with minimum interference and changes in the existing landscape and greenscape. But of late, unprecedented growth and haphazard development has increased the pollution levels by 15% over the last ten years across Bangalore. And, it is alarming to note that the pollution levels have increased by nearly 27% just over the last 5 years. The particulate matter PM (<2.5) has increased to an alarming rate due to vehicular emissions and high construction activities in the city. This is the state of every other developing city in the state and the country. If similar trends continue it will be impossible to live in Bangalore in the next five years.
In spite of all this ecological disaster waiting to happen, the state government had proposed to bring in the amendment to the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act (1976) to exempt about 25+ tree species (in addition to the already existing list of 23 tree species) from obtaining permission to fell them. These include species such as - Raintree, Subabul, Coconut, Areca, Peltoform, Cassia, Bauhinia, Spathodea, Simarouba, Melia, Drumstick, etc. These are the species that have acclimatized themselves to Bangalore's environment over the years. They have been chiefly responsible in creating the salubrious climate of Bangalore over the years and have a larger and wider impact on the social, economic and ecological security of the region and its people.
But the good news is that the State Government has withdrawn the effective implementation of the proposed Amendment to the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act (1976). This was mainly due to the robust and swift action of environmentalists, nature lovers, concerned citizens, like-minded organizations, individuals and others. But the credit also goes to the effective and sensible projection of the issue by all type of media (print & electronic). Many protests, campaigns, awareness drives, panel discussions, public debates and other community based programmes were organized by concerned organizations, individuals and groups across the city appealing to the State Government to withdraw or re-consider the amendment to the KPT Act.
If not for the timely exposure by various media groups the government would not have considered this as a major issue and would have gone ahead with the implementation of amendment. Therefore, it is the comprehensive approach of all like-minded individuals, experts, organizations, citizens in association with the media that will help address any of the social issues of any region.
