As trees fall prey to civic agencies and their inexorable march towards ‘urbanising’ Bengaluru, citizens are scrambling to save them.
When residents of Sarjapur realised that over 80 trees in their neighbourhood were being felled for a road widening project, they turned to crowd-funding to save them. In 18 days, they raised ₹3 lakh to save the few remaining trees — two peepals, a neem and a banyan — which will be shifted to another location.
A Chennai-based firm began work on translocating the trees on Friday.
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“In addition to contributions from RWA members, people from all over the world responded to our call for help,” says Jagadish K. Shettar, president of the Sarjapura Residents’ Welfare Association.
The road widening project began in March 2017 with the Public Works Department (PWD) felling trees along State Highway 35, which connects Anekal and Hoskote Road through Varthur and Sarjapura.
“We lost many peepal and banyan trees, some over a hundred years old. Our anger over the loss spurred us into action. We demanded that the remaining trees be translocated, but officials were not willing to listen,” says V.R. Joy, a design consultant and secretary of the RWA.
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In April, RWA members got a Chennai-based firm to study the remaining trees and identify those that would survive a translocation. Four were identified. Following appeals by the RWA, the PWD and Forest departments allowed the association to translocate the four trees.
Next, residents made an appeal on a crowdfunding platform for ₹3 lakh. With the money in place, they roped in the private company from Chennai.
Two 50-year-old peepal trees and a five-year-old neem are currently being translocated to Inventure Academy. The fourth, a 10-year-old banyan tree, is being translocated to a gated community in the area.
On Friday, the four trees were pruned above the height of 20 feet. On Saturday, the roots will be prepared for the translocation process. The actual replanting will happen on Sunday, sources said.