Launched barely a week ago, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s ‘Green App’, created to encourage afforestation in the city, has received a whopping 1.42 lakh requests for saplings, with Bellandur ward topping the list.
Of the 198 wards in the city, residents of Bellandur ward have placed the highest number of requests – 4,396 – for saplings, said Manoj Rajan, Special Commissioner, BBMP.
More than 10,000 citizens downloaded the application. Around 5,000 citizens from various wards have requested saplings. The highest request – 15,036 – was received for Pongamia pinnata (Honge) . BBMP has a list of around 15 species of the saplings.
1,42,103 requests
Analysing the 1,42,103 requests, BBMP officials said most of the requests were from Horamavu, Hebbal, C.V. Ramanagar, Varthuru, Govindrajnagara, Vignananagar, K.R. Puram, Beguru, Hemmigepura, Dommalur, BTM Layout, Kadugodi, Uttarahalli, Singasandra, HSR Layout, Ramamurthynagar, Doddanekkundi, HAL, and Koramangala wards.
Awareness, active citizen participation, less greenery, availability of space, number of parks and encouragement by councillors to plant more saplings were the driving factors that resulted in a high demand for saplings in these wards, said Mr. Rajan.
How it works
The BBMP has planned to distribute 10 lakh tree saplings to citizens this year. The civic body has five nurseries in and around the city in which it nurtures these 15 species.
Once the requests are received, they will be compiled for ward-wise requirements. Saplings will then be dispatched to the selected parks in all the wards for onward distribution to the citizens.
Citizens are informed two days in advance to collect the saplings from the ward park they have chosen while placing their requests, Mr. Rajan said.
