There has been a 1005% (repeat 1005 %) increase in paved surface during the last four decades in Bengaluru which used to be called a ‘Garden City’. A study by the Indian Institute of Science had pointed out that 68% of the city’s municipal area was under greenery in 1973. In 2012 it had come down to mere 25% with man-to-tree ratio being 1 : 0.17. In areas like Shivajinagar and Chickpet there is just one tree for each 500 persons. Studies suggest that for healthy respiration the ratio should be eight trees for each person.
Trees become disposable assets when cities are conceived as mere commercial spaces with long-term benefits of trees in making cities livable being glossed over. Some cities have fallen victim to crass commercialisation of space which ignores factors that would be essential to make living sustainable. With another amendment staring in the face of the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 and mega plans being drawn up to improve infrastructure for Bengaluru, it is feared that the surviving trees could be counting their days.
General apathy
Trees stand at the mercy of urban local bodies which in most cases have budding politicians who have no inkling of the value the trees add to the livability index of the cities. Or in more modern context, their role in resisting climate change has not yet dawned upon them. The onus therefore falls on environmental activists, resident welfare associations and the media to mount a defence against felling of mature street trees. Often, even the resident welfare associations begin to dilute their opposition to the felling of trees if majority of the members see the prospects of their properties fetching better value if the area turns commercial.
There could be no argument that trees enhance the visual appeal of a neighbourhood, ensure greater circulation of air and attract birds, arboreal animals and insects that allow percolation of water around their roots through their constant engagement with the unpaved ground. M.B. Krishna, an expert in treescaping and habitat restoration, says trees act as sound-barriers and wind-breakers too.
Financial worth
Swetha Rao Dhananka, an urban sociologist and consultant with Environment Support Group (ESG), informs that under the emerging discipline of ‘Treeconomics’, the financial value of trees could be measured. She says this is being factored into computation of benefits accruing to the ecosystem from them or harm that might be caused due to their felling. Citing the use of open-source software I-Tree, she says the city of New York has calculated that against $22 million annual expenditure on its parks, the city is benefitted to the tune of $120 million. This includes saving of $28 million on energy, $5 million on air quality improvement, $36 million by way of mitigation of storm water flooding, and savings on public health besides the fact that each tree intercepts 5,420 litres of water annually.
Conversely, any thoughtless felling of trees could lead to rise in temperature and add 30 to 50% cost for cooling and heating of homes and cars etc. Besides, a treeless terrain is prone to flooding due to rains and will fail to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The 1976 Act
Currently, a bill to amend the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 is before the Karnataka legislature. The environmental activists are unanimous that the already amended Act (in 2015) has become too outdated and porous to safeguard trees. The participants at a workshop against felling of street trees agreed that the old Act needs to be discarded and instead an Urban Forestry & Landscape Management Act needs to be brought in to stop reckless felling of trees for the sake of road widening or construction of flyovers.
The amendment Bill excludes several biologically important species from the list of trees to be preserved. Several legislators and activist groups have called for immediate withdrawal of the bill.
The new list has excluded Bauhinia purpurea (Basavapaada); Albizia saman (Raintree or Chhattrimara); Cassia fistula (Kakke); Delonix regina (kattikaye); Polyalthia longifolia, (false Ashoka); Spathodea (Huchekai); Tabebuia rosea (Pink poui); Simarouba glauca (Lakshmi taru, known for providing cure for cancer) and trees belonging to Tecoma family.
The Bill adds a clause whereby the scope has been expanded for hacking of trees “of other species that may be exempt from time to from protection under the KPT Act”. To add to the woes of the activists, the Indian Forest Act (Amendment) Ordinance 2017 had excluded bamboo, palm, canes and brushwood from the protection of the Forest Act.
Free hand
The activists see the amendment giving a free hand for officials to hack down nearly all trees, turning the city into a concrete jungle. The earlier amendment in 2015 had said that the permission of tree officer was not required if less than 50 trees were to be axed for “public purposes”. This only made the task easier for the BBMP officials who began to choose less than 50 trees at one go for felling.
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