BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) forest division has planted around 20,000 saplings in lake areas during its tree plantation week from August 6-12. However, lake activists have questioned the numbers, claiming that they may have been fudged by the contractors to inflate the cost of the plantation drive.
Ram Prasad, co-founder of Friends of Lakes, said the forest division’s decision to carry out the plantation drive in lake areas raised doubts as already planted saplings could be taken into account and may be added to the bill.
“BBMP forest officials did not take up the drive in parks or on roadsides. In case there are any damages or breaches in lake bunds, the contractors and officials should be held accountable,” said Prasad. He added that contractors engaged with the BBMP forest division are calling the shots, and an inquiry should be initiated.
Defending the move of planting the saplings in lake areas, BLG Swamy, Deputy Conservator of Forests, BBMP, said activists and ‘kere mitras’ had raised some objections, stating they were not consulted before the drive. “We did not plant all saplings on lake bunds; we found space within a 1-km radius of lakes and planted the saplings,” said Swamy.
An official said all saplings were bar coded, and the drive was conducted transparently. In case there is any damage to lake bunds within three years, the agency will be held accountable, and the contractor concerned will have to plant the same number of saplings that perish.
