Deliberately stalled census?

Saplings planted on road dividers have given way to weeds

A minimum sapling height

BENGALURU: A total of 125 trees were causalties in the torrential rains and winds that lashed the city in May. With the monsoon coming soon, more trees will fall. The latest project by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) means that at least 600 trees in the city are expected to be chopped down.Since 2009, a 2017 report prepared by the BBMP forest department noted that 17,964 trees had been cut down – for road widening, flyovers, metro work and other “development” projects.No one has a clear picture of how many trees are there in the city today.It has been 32 years since the last tree census in the “garden city”. There is no proper mechanism in place to plant saplings, preserve and monitor them and ensure that they grow. All that is available is data on fallen trees and unclear information on a gradually depleting green cover due to infrastructure projects and illegal axing.The last known official figures of the city’s tree population of over 15 lakhs was recorded in 1987 when the Green Belt Forest Division, under the State Forest Department was in place. The then chief minister R Gundu Rao executed an ambitious project of planting tree saplings across Bengaluru – the result of which we now enjoy as full-grown trees in all parts of the city. “In early 1983, with active participation from the public, we began planting saplings across the city day and night. The first year alone we successfully planted two lakh saplings sourcing from specially-created nurseries and tree banks in Indiranagar, Koramangala , Vijayanagar and other places,” says 88-year-old Sethuram Gopalrao Neginhal, the then Deputy Conservator of Forests for the project.Neginhal and his dedicated team monitored and preserved the planted saplings for the next five years ensuring that they grew into trees providing green cover to the garden city. In 1987, the team recorded over 15 lakh trees in city, which is sadly the last official tree census taken in Bengaluru. The green project was handed over to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) in 1990 to continue the good work. But it simply went on a decline with no clear plan and tree planting and protection not really in the agenda of consecutive administrations at the Palike. There were always two reasons cited unofficially –low manpower and low funds.Some city environmentalists believe that not conducting the tree census for over three decades is a deliberate attempt to avoid accountability over illegal tree cutting . “Government of Karnataka was the first in the country to pass a Tree Preservation Act in 1976 protecting even a single tree, even if on private property, needs permission from the assigned tree officer of the city to be axed. From a such a visionary tree conservation policy we are sadly reduced to state where we are kept in the dark about the number of trees in the city,” says AN Yellappa Reddy, former chief conservator of forest who was instrumental in bringing the Karnataka Tree Preservation Act in the 70s.“No tree census means no accountability. So, anyone can illegally cut down the trees and the authorities don’t have a clue. At times large-scale chopping happens with connivance of officials in the name of so-called development. To suit it, the Tree Act was amended,” Reddy, who is now the chairman of Bangalore Environmental Trust (BET), says. Reddy and the BET are fighting what seems to be a fruitless battle to protect Bengaluru’s greenery - or whatever is left of it.The 2015 amended Tree Act says that if 50 trees need to be chopped, a meeting with the concerned general public should be convened by the authorities and the matter discussed. “But officials can pass an order at once to cut 49 trees and then another order for another 49. No one can question them then,” Reddy says.According to Leo Saldanha, trustee of the Environment Support Group, an attempt on tree census was made in 2013 when Brijesh Kumar was the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) in BBMP. “The CCF began work on that but was shunted out,” adds Saldanha, a green crusader fighting the battle on legal grounds and is now pitching to save over 600 trees planned to be chopped for the BMRCL phase II project (Bannerghatta Road to Nagawara).Occasionally, news crops up on lakhs of saplings being planted around Bengaluru city mainly on World Environment Day by the BBMP but many environmentalist rubbish it as being photo-ops for the authorities. “Some saplings may be planted here and there but BBMP doesn’t have a system in place to safeguard the saplings and to ensure how many have survived,” ascertains DT Devare from BET, who is petitioner number one in Karnataka High Court against the BBMP and state government to implement the tree census with immediate effect. Devare and his team went to court last year after an RTI query revealed sapling planting and preservation was hardly a priority to the BBMP. The court has passed an interim order on April 23, 2019 to examine tree felling and sapling management by forming an expert committee.Interestingly, the successful tree project of the 80s used a big cow as yardstick and nurtured saplings taller than the animal before it was planted and protected by a wire mesh. This was simply to establish that animals couldn’t eat the saplings past the protective mesh. “Tell me which staff or officer in the BBMP will bother to do all this. I’m sure they don’t even know this traditional method of saving a sapling which doesn’t feature in any of our work manuals,” says a junior staffer of the Forest wing of the Palike who preferred to remain unnamed.According to a ruling by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), compensatory plantation must be done with ten saplings when one tree is cut for any infrastructure project. But none of the authorities including the BBMP, BMRCL and the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) seem to have abided by this. “The BDA have developed many layouts in the city, the Kempegowda Layout for instance, by clearing hundreds of trees. However, since 2016 they have not planted a single sapling,” reveals state activist Sai Datta attributing to an RTI response he received.While MK Cholarajappa, Deputy Conservator of Forests, BBMP was not available for comments, Palike sources say that a tender was floated with May 15 deadline calling private parties to carry out Bengaluru tree census and the matter is being processed.With the fresh attempt at tree census in March and a planned release of the result on Wednesday, June 5 on World Environment Day possibly not seeing light, the authorities are planning for the annual sapling planting ritual for the occasion. One can only hope the new saplings will survive into full- blown trees in Bengaluru.Three decades without a tree census, no sapling preservation programmes and an amended law destroy our trees in Bengaluru.