BENGALURU: Under the guidance of High Court-appointed Tree Committee members, the process of tree transplantation began in Whitefield on Tuesday. Three trees out of the 115 trees that were likely to be felled for the Metro project were relocated to Shri Satya Sai Hospital complex by the panel members and volunteers. This is the first time in the city that no help was taken from the experts to carry out the tree transplantation work.
On Tuesday morning, three trees located on the median on Hope Farm Road were carefully removed and treated with fungicide. They included two Thespesia populnea (Indian tulip tree) and one Pongamia pinnata (Honge) species. Subsequently, the pruned trees with their moistened and intact root ball were transported in a tractor to a distance of 200 metres.
All the three trees with their height ranging between 12 and 14 feet were then re-planted on the hospital premises. The entire process of transplantation took five hours. Manpower and equipment were supplied by the BMRCL.
“An IBM employee and a volunteer had informed us that these trees were under threat due to the Metro project. If more people come forward and share information with us, we can save at least 70 per cent trees from becoming casualty of an infrastructure project,” said Tree Committee member and Eco Watch director Akshay Heblikar. “It will take 10 more days for the rest 112 trees to be transplanted,” added another panel member Vijay Nishanth, who is also the founder of Project Vruksha.com.