BENGALURU : Efforts to green up the city have been hitting several hurdles over the years, with a major factor being the understaffed and overworked forest cell of the city’s civic agency. While felling of trees and natural damage continues to take a toll on the green cover, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is also not being able to maintain the saplings that they have been planting.
About 1 lakh saplings were planted by BBMP in 2017, but their fate remains unknown as the agency officials were not able to monitor their growth. “We could not maintain the saplings or monitor them properly as we did not have funds,” said a senior BBMP official. “If we invest the entire amount in maintenance, it is difficult for us to look after other aspects.”
In 2018, the department could not plant any sapling due to lack of funds. “Our department is also facing a staff crunch. We have very few people to even attend to people’s request. Citizens call us for various reasons, including the entry of a snake or monkey in their home. Without enough staff, it is difficult to attend to so many cases at a time. We are supposed to maintain the saplings for sure, but we need funds,” the official added.
The department now plans to plant 1 lakh saplings year this year, and hopes to muster some personnel to maintain them. Officials say they are also bogged down by other requests from citizens, such as removal of a tree blocking a road, or tackling the roots of a tree depleting groundwater. “We get at least 20 calls a day. We can’t let anyone cut a tree without proper inspection. We go to each spot, examine the situation, talk to the residents and then make a decision. All this takes time and travelling to each spot is hectic. Also, we check if any tree has dried up in an area,” said Chandrappa, Deputy Range Forest Officer, Yelahanka and Dasarahalli Zone, BBMP.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru continues to lose several trees regularly. The department cut about 372 trees last year, with most felling taking place in the east and the west zone. About 280 dried trees and 1,489 branches had to face the axe. “It’s time we get a boost in our staff strength to help us,” said Thimappa, Deputy Range Forest Officer East Zone. “The officers are supposed to look after and maintain the nurseries in each zone, and find it difficult to manage the saplings planted.”