Hyderabad: Trees get a coat of paint for GES

Hyderabad: The GHMC has begun whitewashing trees as part of its plans to beautify the city ahead of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. 

As many as 60 palm trees in the median from the Hyderabad International Convention Centre to the mini-Charminar icon at Hitec City will be painted in rainbow colours.

Another 101 trees belonging of various species with different sized trunks have been identified on both sides of the arterial roads, but only 51 will be painted with themes related to environment.

The first coat, in white colour, on the bark is good for the trees and will enhance the second coat, an official said. 

The trees will get a coat of paint that will help them glow in the dark. Activists, however , deplored the move to paint the trees. 

Ms Kajal Maheshwari, an environmentalist, said, “Temporary fixes to look good at the cost of nature is penny-wise and pound-foolish. Pain-ting trees will have a harmful effect. The che-micals being used need to tested and verified.”

Osmania University botany professor Dr H. Ramakrishna said exce-ssive exposure to paint could damage the internal structure of the tree. He also wanted chemical analysis of the paint.

“Physiological activity occurs in the trunk and there are also some openings in the barks, which if blocked with the paint, can affect the growth of trees,” he sad.

Ms Maheshwari said the government should have a plan of action in place to monitor the trees, as there were instances in the past where the trees died after being painted.

GHMC commissioner, West, D. Hari Chandana said, “The top part of the trunk will not be painted. We did this on an experimental basis earlier and observed that there is hardly any impact on the growth of the tree”.