Mangaluru: With more and more advertisement hoardings coming up in Mangaluru city, eco-activists are determined to take up a campaign to restore the greenery in the city.
Greenery in Mangaluru is declining due to urbanisation, industrialization and other projects. In addition to this, environmentalists allege that there are several incidents where roadside saplings and trees have been chopped for the sake of advertisement hoardings.
“Trees on the roadside are killed systematically in the city. The branches of the trees are chopped repeatedly or sometimes, they are killed using various other methods to show it as a natural death of the tree. This is done with proper planning as these trees are situated near hoardings. Those who do not want the trees blocking the visibility of the hoardings, are involved in this act,” National Environment Care Federation state secretary Shashidhar Shetty told Deccan Chronicle.
Earlier, cases were booked against those who were involved in such incidents. But these incidents continue in the city. Now, the activists have decided to take this seriously and start a campaign to replant saplings in the same place. "Shortly we will survey the entire city to identify places where plants and trees have been removed. Later, we will start planting saplings in the same place. We will click the photo and post it on WhatsApp with a warning that if the plant is removed again, we will surely bring the hoardings down or paint it black,” Shetty said.
“Green cover is very important. Trees and plants were present much before the hoardings. We cannot let somebody kill our trees and plants for the sake of advertisements," he added.
