BENGALURU: Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Forest Cell’s efforts to find and prune weak trees and branches that are vulnerable to fall during heavy rain and strong winds has been hampered with the cell consisting of only 18 staffers to monitor the entire city.
Largely because of this, the city is witnessing tree fall incidents that have either maimed or claimed lives of people and damaged vehicles, roads and buildings. As trees have not been pruned in many places, they have blocked traffic signals, making it difficult for motorists and pedestrians.
According to the forest cell data, the city has seen 1,122 trees uprooting and 3,547 branches falling since January 2025. These incidents have killed three people, including a woman on Sunday, and injured 10. Rain trees and mayflower trees are the most vulnerable to fall during strong winds and heavy rain.
“A team is sent to prune trees only when residents place a request. If the cell has more Range Forest Officers, daily rounds can be conducted and such trees can be removed even before they fall, causing injuries and deaths,” said an official from the BBMP forest cell, working under the Greater Bengaluru Authority now.
When Tushar Girinath was chief commissioner, he had sought 45-50 forest staff. Now with the corporation split into five, and Girinath heading the Urban Development Department, a decision on adding more staff could be taken, he said.
“The trees that were planted 40 to 50 years ago have grown big. The old and dead trees are likely to fall and they should be removed. Native species like pongamia, neem and jamun should be planted to recover the lost canopy. The police department too should be told to handle the issue sensibly instead of harassing forest officials whenever a tree falls resulting in injuries or death. The forest staff is here only on deputation and serves for a limited period. The real custodians of the road and its trees are ward engineers, and they should list such trees,” said a Range Forest Officer serving in GBA.