Finally, BBMP to count trees

Bengaluru: After a long delay, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is finally working towards conducting a tree survey in the city, to keep count of them and assess the green cover.

There are numerous trees that are being felled across the city without prior permission and many others fall on their own as they are old and weak to withstand heavy rains and winds, resulting in damage to property and even human lives. To ensure that the trees in the city are protected and no unauthorised felling takes place, the survey is being carried out.

City Mayor Sampath Raj told Deccan Chronicle, “The tree survey should have been conducted four years ago and certain amount was set aside to ensure that the survey is conducted on time. But due to some glitches, the survey could not take place and now we want it to happen.”

“There are plans to conduct the survey during or after the monsoon. The BBMP officials are meeting with the forest officials and environmental experts to chalk out a plan on how to conduct this survey,” the Mayor added.

When asked whether the public be involved in this survey as volunteers, he said, “We are  thinking of it, as the residents of the area will know better about the trees than the officials. We will decided on how enroll the public as volunteers.”

Another officer from the BBMP forest cell said that the main aspect of the tree survey is to protect them, as mostly we are not aware when a tree is chopped. “Once we have the count of the trees, we will identify the weak, old and infected ones. We will check if it can be protected, if not we will bring it down, as it might fall anytime on anyone. Once the tree is felled, we will plant another sapling at the same spot,” the officer added.