At Hanumanthnagar, dry leaves remain forever

In Hanumanthnagar, Srinagar and Gavipuram, trees are poorly managed by civic authorities and sometimes even pose a danger. The fallen leaves and branches remain unattended for long and many areas have turned into an unofficial dumping ground

Bengaluru: A tree-lined street is a welcoming sight for everyone. And that is why Bengaluru had earned the moniker ‘Garden City’. But residents in areas such as Hanumanthnagar, Srinagar and Gavipuram are upset that trees are poorly managed by civic authorities and even pose a danger.

While trees shed leaves as part of seasonal change and the branches fall during strong winds, there is no proper system in place to cart them away. This problem is not confined to the above areas, but prevails across the city. A twitter user had posted pictures of fallen coconut tree branches being dumped next to her house at Hanumanthnagar. The user complained that the coconut trees fallen in the area were being collected by the BBMP pourakarmikas and just dumped next to the footpath opposite Vijay Nethralaya.

The issue was well captured in a photo and the user had tweeted the complaint to city Mayor Gangambike, Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya and others on May 13. But till date the complaint seem to have not been addressed.

Rekha, a resident of Gavipuram also faced a similar problem. "Trees are good for us. They give shelter and clean air. Sometimes fruit bearing trees give fresh fruits too. But the issue with trees on roads is that no one takes any responsibility for it," she said.

"Be it the leaves which fall everyday to the sticks and other parts like twigs, all are not being swept by the pourakarmikas. While the neighbours want all the benefits from the trees, they hardly care to sweep the leaves or any other things that fall from trees. Many times this has led to verbal fights between neighbours,” she added.

Ramu, a resident of Laxmipura said that when there is a heavy rain or strong winds the tree branches fall. "If they are blocking the way, people just put them on to the sides as per their convenience. But they do not eansure that its gets cleared. BBMP pourakarmikas too are not bothered and demand money. Those who have money get them cleared, but others have to put up with fallen leaves, branches and others things, that remain  unattended for long. They eventually turn into mini dumping zones."

Apart from the above issues, the area is suffering from water problem. "We do not have a borewell. We are totally dependent on the Cauvery water supplied by the BWSSB. But with the onset of summer, the water supply has remained irregular. Repeated complaints to the BWSSB office have not yielded any result."

Further the public borewells in the area have gone dry and the officials have not bothered to rejuvenate them. He added that it has added to the burden as they are depending on the private tankers for their needs twice a week.

Mayor Gangambike was not available for comment.