Bengaluru: How many trees is a hoarding worth? Going by a mass-felling spree by a private advertising agency, the answer is a staggering 17.
Over 17 trees were poisoned and another 13 were pruned and irregularly chopped to ensure a clear view of a hoarding placed beside between Marathahalli and Chinnappannahalli on the Outer Ring Road. All the trees are of the Tespesia Papulenia (Behandi) variety. They were anywhere between 4 to 7 metres tall.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Forest Cell officials inspected the area on Thursday. One of them said, “The mud around the roots has been dug up and acid poured. This might have been about two weeks ago. No one noticed until the trees started to wilt,” said an official.
Only three can be saved
“Of the poisoned trees, just three can be saved,” said Vijay Nishanth, a tree conservationist who had filed a complaint with the BBMP. “This is insane... and just for a hoarding. On Friday, we will start the process of trying to save the three trees.”
BBMP officials said the trees are on the service road beside the ORR. They had been poisoned so that a large hoarding displaying the ‘beauty’ of a sunset in New York, USA could be seen clearly from both sides of the road. “The hoarding does not have a BBMP approval number or any other identification mark. We are attempting to track the owner of the hoarding, and will file a case under the Karnataka Tree Preservation Act,” said the official.
Killing trees for better view
The removal of trees to ensure better display for hoardings has been an unfortunate recurrence in a city where ‘development’ is fast wiping out the green cover.
According to Save Green, an NGO, at least 43 trees were cut on major roads in 2015 and 2016 as they ‘obstructed’ advertising boards. These include 12 trees at Nagawara junction, more than four at Murgeshpalya, four at Trinity Circle where advertising rates have sky-rocketed and 17 on Old Airport Road.
