Bengaluru: For a city that has enjoyed the tag of being the ‘garden city’ for long, famed for its tree-lined avenues, Bengaluru has seen a massacre of sorts of its green cover over the last few years. The lush green cover has made way for concrete, becoming the first casualty for a slew of infrastructure projects. The fast-depleting green spaces has seen citizens’ groups at loggerheads with the government and civic agencies, accusing them of taking unilateral decisions and ignoring their opinions.
This week, as part of The Hindu ’s #whatsyourissue campaign, we looked at the rapid loss of the city's parks and tree cover to the inadequate attempts to compensate by planting ornamental trees in place of native species.
The campaign opened with a look at the desperate need for parks in the outlying areas of the city, moving on to expose how advertisers compromise on tree cover to ensure maximum visibility for their hoardings.
Tree conservationists revealed that at least 43 trees have been cut on major roads in the past one year as they were obstructing a clear view of advertisement hoardings. There have also been instances of trees being poisoned and left to die by residents for various reasons.
The campaign also looked at infrastructure projects coming up at the cost of hundreds of trees. For example, the steel flyover is set to take down 812 trees along the route. Phase II of Namma Metro will involve cutting more trees.
Other issues examined this week included the lack of open spaces in the city and the dismal numbers of playgrounds, which is forcing children to play on the streets.
