Tree fall: Proactive Basavanagudi residents save the day!

Bengaluru: On Tuesday, morning walkers were startled to hear a cracking sound from the massive branch of a 300-year-old tree opposite Krishna Rao Park in Basavanagudi. Their quick response averted a tragedy, which could have claimed the lives of commuters. The walkers began policing and controlling traffic in the area. They also ensured that the fallen tree branch did not block traffic flow.

In the process they kept the road free for an ambulance to arrive at the earliest. Showing admirable presence of mind, they did all this without waiting for the civic authorities to arrive.

All this happened around 9.30 am and many commuters, who were rushing to work, were surprised to be stopped by a group of morning walkers near Krishna Rao Park. Hari, one of the morning walkers, said, “We immediately thought of stopping traffic as we knew the branch could fall on the road and cause serious injuries or even death. Not realizing the gravity of the situation, some commuters ignored our warnings.” Thanks to the efforts of the morning walkers, nobody was injured when the branch actually fell.

While the Bengaluru traffic police were alerted immediately and they ensured diversion of traffic, a group of youngsters who had come to play badminton in the park removed the huge tree branch with the help of passengers from a Karnataka Saarige bus heading towards the city from Kanakapura. There was no delay as no one waited for BBMP officials to arrive.

The branch which fell near Krishna Rao Park in Basavanagudi.

Venkatesh, a flower vendor, said that every morning hundreds of bikes and cars are parked on the road from 6 am to 9 am. “Fortunately the huge branch fell down late in the morning when there weren’t many bikes parked and nobody was injured,” he said.

A regular walker in the park, Ravi, said that the incident took place right next to the park where an old tree was uprooted just a few weeks ago. The old tree was eaten by termites and fell late at night, posing no threat to morning walkers or anyone else. “Since this is the month of Ashada Masa (July) when the city experiences strong winds, the BBMP should take the necessary action to remove dried and weak tree branches immediately.”

Revealing the records of the number of trees uprooted in the city in the last month due to strong winds and heavy rainfall, an official from the BBMP forest department said that as many as 76 trees, including branches, had fallen in the city in the past one month. The official said the BBMP was planning to take up a tree census after the monsoon.