Rallies, awareness drives, tree planting sessions mark World Environment Day in city

After a summer that brought home the reality of depleting green cover in the city, more citizens are becoming aware of the need for a greener Bengaluru. To mark World Environment Day on Sunday, citizens did their bit to contribute to a greener environment – right from planting trees to holding cycle rallies and awareness drives for bio-diesel buses and electric cars.

“We were assisted by the BBMP’s Forest Division who supplied the trees. We planted several trees across the whole neighbourhood,” said Praveen of citizen’s group ‘I change Indiranagar’.

Mayor Manjunath Reddy, as well as the Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, planted several trees in parks and educational institutions in the Sadduguntepalya ward. “Local trees that are known to be well-suited for the particular weather conditions in the city were planted,” he said.

There were also several initiatives undertaken in Whitefield. Along with planting lots of trees in schools and on waysides, there were also workshops and talks held in some of the malls. Around 30 volunteers spent the morning planting trees with help from BBMP pourakarmikas. Tree guards and fences will be put up around the 100 saplings.

An Electric Vehicle Rally, Exhibition and Workshop was organised by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

Electric vehicles were first assembled at BMTC Central Offices and then set on the rally. The convoy toured the streets for an hour before they returned to the venue. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, had organised a ‘Green March’, from Lalbagh gate to the KSRTC office nearby, roping in several local celebrities. The occasion was also used to observe bus day by the BMTC, as well as inaugurate the use of bio-diesel in 135 buses. They also planted 500 trees at the BMTC offices and depot. A cycle rally was organised by the Bharat Scouts and Guides, Karnataka.

From September 2015 till now, change.org has started twelve petitions to highlight the plight of the different lakes in Bengaluru. The organisation is seeking urgent intervention from the Karnataka government to help in saving the lakes.

The broad theme of these petitions is the environmental degradation that is damaging the lakes at a rapid rate and the growing need to save water bodies with immediate effect.