Saving green cover one tree at a time

A year ago an FIR was filed at the Jeevan Bima Nagar Police Station against a person for punching posters on trees, after which he was warned to stay away from such activity.

Taking up the idea of saving trees of the city, a group of fifteen volunteers, who were neighbors, joined hands to use their weekend for an environment-friendly cause. On Saturdays and Sundays some youngsters climb trees and remove nails, staplers and posters stuck on them.

These volunteers are a part of an NGO called ‘Save Green’, founded in 2009. "Whenever we go out we see that there are posters on trees and advertisements nailed to the trees. Though people know it is not a good practice, it was going unchecked. Hence we decided to spend our weekends removing the posters and nails on trees," said Hemant, founder and President of Save Green.

"Bengaluru's trees a being cut at an alarming rate in the name of development.  So, we decided to form a group to protect and work regarding various environmental aspects of trees," said D.V. Srikanth, who works as the Secretary for the team. He pointed out that recently they removed more than one kilogram of nails from trees on the roadside stretching from Kalyan Nagar to Hebbal.

As for logistics and support Srikanth said, “Many people have been supportive and encouraging. But they are very busy with their personal lives and don't try to spend time on environmental activities. And also organisations working in this area require a lot of financial support for tools, saplings and other things and this issue is constantly a problem for us as well."

The team is also looking into air pollution and trying to spread awareness about the issue as well. "We work mainly on tree plantation and tree protection activities. But due to the increasing traffic in Bengaluru, we took a little deviation as air pollution is increasing. But our main concentration always remains the same, which are trees and protecting it from miscreants."

Regarding the areas covered by them, Srikanth said, "We tried covering many areas including Old airport road (up to Marathahalli), Thippasandra, Jeevanbhimanagar, Indiranagar, Outer ring road (Kalyanagar to Hebbal). Countless posters have been removed."

However, it is not always an easy journey for the volunteers. "We try hard to maintain these locations by calling the offenders and explaining them. But many threaten us or blame others. In many areas, the poster punching has been reduced to a large extent by our constant efforts. There are some citizens who criticise our work and try to discourage us. But we continue with our work with the same zeal and enthusiasm," he added.

Regarding greater public participation Srikanth said, "Obviously, we require more people to get involved in improving the surroundings we live in. People must realise that there is a lot more to do than just paying taxes. I would rather say that more people should realise the importance of our environment and the need for its protection."